


X-Men: Light within Darkness

by MartyrFan



Category: X-Men Evolution
Genre: Character Turned Into Vampire, F/M, Vampire Jubilee
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 21:03:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 37,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7006804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MartyrFan/pseuds/MartyrFan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when you're the first of your kind, a combination between a new type of human and an ancient horror? Jubilee's world is rocked by a horrific transformation and then a terrible tragedy. How will this decide her fate? Rated T for dark themes and violence. My first X-Men: Evolution fanfic; feel free to comment. ON HIATUS.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Freak in LA

**Author's Note:**

> X-Men: Evolution is one of my favorite cartoons, and this is one of my ideas for it. Feel free to offer constructive criticism in a comment if you feel inclined to.

**X-Men: Light within Darkness**

Chapter 1: Freak in L.A.

Jubilation Lee paused outside her door and sighed. Another day to be spent at her high school with her friends and enemies, or in her case, her enemies. Almost every teenager in the place made fun of her, while her teachers singled her out all the time. When did her life go south? As she walked down her house's steps and to the bus stop, she went over in her mind the bizarre series of events that lead to her current situation.

Over a year ago at the tender age of fifteen, she had started shooting sparks and lights from her hands. The firework-like projectiles frightened both her and her parents, until the red-headed girl and the bald man in the wheelchair came. He introduced himself as Professor Charles Xavier and the girl as Jean Gray. He explained that Jubilee's "powers" were the manifestations of her X-Gene. The X-Gene was a gene that when it got strong enough in a person would give them paranormal abilities. His demonstration of telepathy and Jean's telekinesis pretty much gave them proof that this wasn't something isolated to her alone.

Professor Xavier ran a school that helped to train "mutants" in the exercise of their powers, along with a high school education. The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters was located across the country in Bayville, New York, which was a far cry from Jubilee's native Los Angeles. Her powers needed training though and she and her parents figured that made up for the distance from home. When she made the move to the Institute, she was surprised at the number of other mutants there. The blue-furred Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler), the weather-controlling Storm, her nephew Evan (Spyke), team leader Scott Summers (Cyclops), phasing Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat), the metal-clawed Logan (Wolverine), the ape-like Hank McCoy (Beast), the explosive Tabitha Smith (Boom-Boom), the sun-absorbing Roberto DeCosta (Sunspot), the shape-shifter Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane), the pryokinetic Amara Aquillo (Magma), the multiplying Jamie Madrox (Multiple), the electric Ray Carter (Berzerker), the flying Sam Guthrie, and the frosty Bobby Drake (Iceman) made for an interesting group. There was also the Brotherhood, a group of mutant hoods: the geokinetic Lance Alvers (Avalanche), the frog-like Todd Tolansky (Toad), the speedy Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver), and the huge Fred Dukes (Blob). They followed their own creed: a mixture of a gang along with the supremacist teachings of Professor Xavier's rival, Magneto.

It was strange and fun; going to high school with the rest and then coming home to learn how to use her powers. For a while it was great. Normal high school life combined with the thrill of having powers. Being around others that had their own abilities was great as well. She wouldn't admit it out loud but Bobby Drake had an impish charm about him, but she wouldn't get the chance to tell him.

One day, close to about four months ago, the world learned about mutants in the worst way possible. Not in a laboratory or in an act of heroism, but on national television fighting a giant robot, the explosion of the Institute, and finally the X-Men's battle against the power-crazed Juggernaut on a dam. She hadn't been present for the first or the last. When the Institute blew up and the cops came for them, Ray had led a group of students, including herself, to the Morlock's hideout in the Bayville sewers. They had stayed there until the initial panic wore off.

No sooner had that happened than her parents called her back home. Her conscious mind told her they had good reasons; Xavier had promised safety for his students, and he had pretty much bombed. Deep down though, part of her resented her parents for dragging her away from the only people that understood her. Now she had to put up with being the only mutant kid in her high school. The only _official_ mutant kid that is. She suspected a few of the kids that didn't pick on her to be mutants as well. The reason they didn't reveal themselves was the bullying and bigotry that plagued her daily. She didn't blame them. The slurs, the teasing, the notes, having to explain she wasn't a telepath whenever a test came up, being sent to the Principal's office while the bullies got off scot free whenever it all escalated. She wouldn't want to reveal she was a mutant, or even a mutant-sympathizer with that bigotry going on.

She also couldn't go back to the gymnastics club or the martial arts dojo she went to before the Institute. She knew that at either place she would be accused of using her powers whenever she did well so she decided to not even try. She had taken to practicing both in abandoned lots and buildings in her spare time. Also, her first few trips to the mall went well, until it came out that she was a mutant. Getting tailed by mall security while receiving both stares and glares pretty much ruined malls for her after that.

The attack of the super-mutant Apocalypse only made things worse for mutants and for herself. At least his defeat at the hands of the combined X-Men and Brotherhood had caused some people to quit hating mutants. Not many at her school though.

There were times she'd like nothing more than to just unleash her fireworks in the faces of her tormentors. But that would only put her in a specially-made cell and give other mutants a bad name. She could just imagine the looks on Professor Xavier's and her parent's faces if she did such a thing. She swore to herself that if she ever met Magneto, she'd ask him what made him hate humans so much. What was done to him before mutants were exposed that fostered such a rage and anger against flatscans (racial insult for humans)? The really strange and nasty thing was that she could now sympathize, just a little, with him.

Oh goody. She was at the bus stop, where as soon as she sat down, those around her would move away. And so they did. "Mutie freak," a girl said as she got up from the bench.

 _Flatscan butthole_ thought Jubilee. If she said that out loud, they would be on her in a second, and she would be blamed for the whole thing when the dust cleared. The bus pulled up and everyone got onboard with Jubilee nearly getting the door slammed on her. By now she knew the drill. Avoiding the wads of paper thrown at her and the insults she made her way to the back of the bus and sat down alone. Whispers and catcalls accompanied the ride to the school.

It only worsened when they arrived. One boy ran up behind Jubilee as she exited the bus and grabbed her bag. "Hey, give that back!"

"Sure thing, mutie." He grinned. "You just have to catch it first." He threw the bag over her head to another guy standing behind her. They proceeded to throw the bag back and forth while Jubilee tried to catch it.

"Stop that, I'm going to be late," she yelled.

"What's the matter, mutie? Can't use your powers to get your bag?"

Jubilee gritted her teeth. Using her powers at school would result in instant expulsion. Her friend Rahne Sinclair had told her over the phone that her guardian was homeschooling her because her old school wouldn't have her back at all. Being able to turn into a wolf and a wolf-like creature while in Scotland wasn't a good combination. It just gave bigots the power to call you "werewolf" along with the usual racist slurs.

Jubilee's parents couldn't homeschool thanks to their careers. She couldn't help but resent them for this too. She'd rather deal with less money to spend if it meant getting away from these creeps. It's not like she would miss having less cash for the mall if she wasn't welcome there anyway.

She finally managed to snag her bag and run off before they could start again. She made her way to her locker, which now sported an "M" in permanent marker. She opened it to find a note inside. _Hey mutie, why don't you…."_ Her eyes widened as she read the note. The language in it and the note itself was too terrible and obscene to be repeated. She crumbled the note in her fist and then accidentally set it on fire with a few sparks. She hurriedly threw the burning scrap of paper into the bottom of her locker and ground it under her foot. She looked around and breathed a sigh of relief. Close call. She gathered her books and hurried to her class.

There were three people among the faculty that she went out of her way to avoid or to stay under their radar. The first was Mrs. Hansen, a heavy-set woman that taught biology. Whenever she got to mutants, she showed pictures of Mr. McCoy and Logan, decrying them as "evolutionary throwbacks." Mr. McCoy was kind and wise despite his appearance, and Logan was gruff but genuinely cared for the students. Jubilee just held her tongue while Hansen egged her to talk back. The first time she did earned her an hour in detention.

The second was Mr. Jonas, her English teacher. He was nice enough to the other students, but when she came into his line of sight, his bushy eyebrows combined with the look he gave her made him almost as intimidating as a first meeting with Mr. Logan. The slightest mistake on her papers resulted in a "C" while the same type of work with a "human" student earned a "B+." The only good thing that resulted from that was she got really good at proofreading her papers.

The third and worst of the three was Nurse Jan Kelly, who in Jubilee's opinion was a shoe-in for the Antichrist. It was more likely that she was a relative of Principal Kelly of Bayville High; that was possible given her attitude towards Jubilee. Whenever Jubilee came in, which had become more common than it should have been, she made sure to make Jubilee wait. If there was someone already there or someone came with her (which Jubilee wished happened more), she treated them first, and she also liked to send Jubilee to detention for "rowdy behavior."

In the detention room, there was a desk that literally had her name on it, along with insults that had also been carved into its surface. The most that Mr. Daniels, the detention manager did, was to keep a closer eye on her than he did the others. Detention was boring, but at least spitwad-shooters were stopped. One of the worst things was that all the kids she thought were her old friends turned their back on her when it came out. She even counted some of them as her new tormentors.

The only people that were kind to her was the lunch lady, whose name she didn't know, the janitor Wallace Nelson, and those few kids that stood up for here in their own quiet way. The lunch lady made two differences to Jubilee's lunch: she discreetly gave her a little more dessert than the others, and she often left a kind and encouraging note under her milk carton. If Jubilee ever got the chance, she was going to tell her how much that meant. Mr. Nelson cleaned up the messes left by her tormentors. A few hours later as she prepared for her history class, she spotted him coming towards her locker armed with the materials needed to scrub permanent marker off a locker door. He gave her a small smile as he passed by. She noticed a green-haired "punk" girl leaning against the wall that had helped her yesterday. Jubilee had been running from the jock pack when the girl had stuck her foot out in front of Gary Anderson, the local Duncan Matthews. He tripped, and when his buddies were helping him up, Jubilee spotted the girl hightailing it too. The girl winked as Jubilee went by. Her help would be more pronounced if the people that were against her weren't so numerous or powerful in the school.

By two in the afternoon, Jubilee was starting to relax. Only one hour left to the day, and she would be out. After that she would call her parents, let them know where they could find her while she practiced her gymnastics and martial arts. She also practiced her mutant abilities, but she always made sure that no one was watching, in person or through a camera, while she did. She didn't need people thinking she was gearing up for a Columbine.

"Hey Jubes! How's the freakshow going?" called out an arrogant voice. Jubilee groaned and turned to the source. Angelina Kyle stood there, grinning and flanked by her two minions and her boyfriend, Gary. What was with popular and jerky kids and their tendency to find each other? Gary and Angelina were practically the power couple of Popularity, and really enjoyed voicing their dislike of Jubilee and mutants in general.

Gary walked right up to her and stuck his face in hers. She literally had to hold back her gag reflex; his breath was really bad. "Listen freak, who was that punk that tripped me up yesterday?"

Jubilee smirked. "I don't know. I thought you tripped on your own feet."

He snarled. "You know I didn't. I was tripped and I knocked myself cross-eyed thanks to whoever it was."

"Poor baby," cooed Angelina. "Tell us Jubes, who was it? A freak friend of yours? No self-respecting _normal_ person would ever help one of you genetic oddballs out."

That ticked Jubilee off. "You know that my powers come from my DNA? And here I thought you didn't know what the word 'genetic' meant."

That drew a gasp from Angelina and her flunkies. No one insulted her to her face, and those that did it behind her back whispered. Her parents were on the school board and she knew how to make your life hell. Jubilee inwardly flinched as she remembered that.

"Take that back," squeaked Mindy, the blonde minion. The brunette was Deedee. Jubilee thought both names appropriate for the two. They were practically drones that were nothing until Angelina showed up.

"Nope. I, like, totally won't take that back," mocked Jubilee. Living around Kitty allowed one to imitate the Valley Girl accent real quick. Kitty had brains however, while these three didn't have a clue about anything outside high school politics and cute fashions.

"How about you take that back and tell us about your friend," growled Gary, "Or I test just how far I can throw you." One of his favorite phrases was to say that he couldn't trust someone as far as he could throw them.

"I wouldn't do that. I can control gravity. I'll just make myself very heavy," lied Jubilee.

"You use your powers on campus mutie, and you'll never come here again," said Gary, smirking.

The word "mutie" always ticked Jubilee off, which explained why she said what she said next.

"In that case, your girlfriend's going to be expelled. The ability to bring down the I.Q.s of yourself and your friends is pretty lame, but it's still a mutant ability," she smirked back. In response, Angelina looked to Deedee and snapped her fingers. Deedee walked right up to Jubilee and slapped her in the face. While Jubilee was recoiling, she took the opportunity to spit in her face.

"That bit is reserved just for you mutie creeps," she said brightly. At that Jubilee snapped. She slapped Deedee back and before she knew it she was in the eye of a hurricane of feminine slaps, scratching, and shrieking. If it had been just one of the girls, heck, even just Gary by himself, she would have dominated the fight. As it was, she never even got the chance to throw a punch.

"What's going on here?" bellowed a familiar voice. Jubilee looked to see Mr. Jonas stalking towards them. Oh great.

Angelina jumped up and forced a quaver into her voice. "She just jumped us and slapped Deedee!"

"She slapped me first," protested Jubilee. "And she spit in my face!"

"Quiet Ms. Lee," he snapped. "Two hours detention after class."

 _Good, at least these idiots get punished too_ , thought Jubilee.

"For you."

"What? But Mr. Jonas, they-"

"Did nothing wrong as far as I saw. Get to class."

Gary grinned at Jubilee from his position, leaning against a locker. _The jerkoff starts this whole thing and doesn't even get scratched_ , Jubilee thought as she stormed off. _And now I'm going to be an hour late, and I won't be able to call my parents until detention's over. What I wouldn't give to either rip these bigots a new one or to go back to the Institute._

These thoughts circulated through Jubilee's mind as she sat through her last class and in detention. The insults and racial slurs carved into her detention desk drilled their way into her mind as she studied the wood. _Mutie, freak, monster…._

What was the point of holding back like Xavier said they should? Not fighting back might work with good people, but these weren't good people. They thrived off of those who didn't stand up for themselves. Evan did the right thing when he stood up for the Morlocks. Duncan and his creep friends were currently rotting in jail for using explosives and deadly weaponry within a town, and Evan had brought them out. _He should start his own movement. A combination of Magneto's and Xavier's philosophies: Leave us alone and we'll leave you alone. Bug us and we'll tear your house down._ Thoughts like this crossed her mind often these days. Before the Incident, she had concerned herself with just her schoolwork, her gymnastics and martial arts, and her friends.

Maybe if she had stayed at the Institute with the others, she would think differently. But after a few months of being the only mutant in school, her mind had changed radically. Whenever she dropkicked a target or blasted it into oblivion, she fantasized that she was striking Gary, or Angelina, or Nurse Kelly. She knew though, that the Professor wouldn't approve, and neither would Bobby, but neither of them were on in high school on their own. Why was she thinking about what Bobby would think?

"Ms. Lee, you can go now," interrupted Mr. Daniels.

"Thanks," Jubilee intoned as she gathered her stuff. He just grunted and continued with some paperwork of his. As she left the building, she whipped out the phone and dialed her parent's number. It was answered on the first ring.

Her father's voice comes through the speaker: "Jubilation Sarah Lee, where are you? You should have been home an hour ago."

"I'm sorry dad. I got in a fight with Angelina and her goons and Mr. Jonas gave me two hours detention."

"Two hours? Jubilee, we talked about this. You can't go about fighting people that insult you. You know that they're just doing it to egg you into using your powers."

"Dad, they were giving me the usual until I mouthed off, then one of Angelina's minions slapped me, and then she spit in my face. How is someone supposed to act when that happens?"

Silence. "I understand honey, and frankly I don't think you should have to ask that question. No one should have to ask what they should do when they're slapped and then spit on. Your mother and I have been talking, and we'd like to discuss it over dinner. We'll keep dinner warm in the oven until you get back."

Jubilee smiled. "Thanks dad. I'll take a few shortcuts towards that one spot where you picked me up when the bus was being repaired that one time."

"You sure that's a good idea hon? It's pretty late, and those areas of town aren't safe."

"I'll be fine dad. Between my martials arts and my powers, I think I'll be safe. Just be careful driving. I think you'll be in more danger from mom if you scratch her car," she laughed.

Mr. Lee chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind Jubes. See you there. Love you."

"Love you too, dad." Jubilee closed her phone and hurried off. She knew a shortcut through some vacant lots and abandoned warehouses that she had found while looking for a good place to practice. Her dad would pick her up a few blocks away. He was right though. Towards the evening, the creeps, perverts, and psychopaths came out to play. Thankfully, her house was in a good neighborhood faraway from most of the troubled spots. It wasn't Beverly Hills, but it was pretty upscale. No matter where you lived in L.A., you always had to watch yourself.

She was on a good pace along her route. A few minutes away from the pick-up point in a warehouse, Jubilee was just about to exit when the doors slammed shut in front of her. She turned around in time to see the doors where she entered close too. The shutters on the windows closed an instant later. Hurriedly she dug through her bag for an emergency flashlight. Its light was only enough to penetrate the darkness immediately around her.

Something clattered to her left and she shot around. A sound like someone landing from a long jump echoed behind her. She turned around again and saw something move in the gloom. "I'm warning you," she yelled. "I know several different martial arts and I've got both mace and a taser. Open that door and I'll let you off easy." She decided not to mention her powers. She might need an ace up her sleeve (pun intended).

Someone walked towards her in the darkness. She soon made out a tall, young man dressed all in denim. He looked her over and then grinned. Was it just her, or was his teeth, especially his canines, long and sharp?

"Well, well," he said snidely. "What a cute, little snack have we got here?"


	2. Attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 2 of X-Men: Light within Darkness. Hope you're enjoying it so far.

Chapter 2: Attack

"I'm not a snack," retorted Jubilee angrily. She yanked out her stun gun out of her bag with her free hand. "I'm your worst nightmare," she added. Several weeks before mutants were exposed, some of the Institute girls, namely Jean, Rogue, Kitty, and Amara, as well as Tabitha (who was with the Brotherhood at that point) had made their own vigilante team, the Bayville Sirens. Their climatic finale was when they had busted up a chop shop. That whole incident was a legend amongst the Institute girls. When Jubilee had heard about it, she'd been pretty mad that she hadn't been let in on it. Right now she was really wishing she had, because a little experience in real combat in a dark warehouse would be extremely helpful right now.

"Oh," the youth grinned, "you'll find that we are your worst nightmare come to life." He snapped his fingers and figures appeared out of the gloom into her flashlight beam. There was about six of them total. Their looks were varied, but all held the same message: Gang. Raggedy cloths and tattoos abounded, though they seemed to lack the normal weapons that a gang would wield. To Jubilee's surprise there were a couple of girls among them. They all moved through the gloom with a grace and confidence that seemed predatory in nature. Jubilee suddenly got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Look," she said, trying to keep her nerves from coming out in her voice. "I just want to go home. You do anything to me, and my parents will know something went wrong when I don't show up." She wondered briefly if the Xavier/Summers method of rational diplomacy before violence would work with these creeps.

One of the girls, a goth, smiled. For a moment Jubilee thought the girl's eyes flashed red in the light. "Oh, you might show up, or you might not. It just depends."

"Depends on what?"

A black kid with a Mohawk grinned. "On how hungry we are, cutie." His teeth suddenly sharpened themselves into horrific fangs.

"What the…!" Jubilee started. She was caught off guard when two of them jumped her. She avoided them both, and yanking out her stun gun, zapped the smaller of the two in the neck. He hollered and then backhanded her. His strength belied his size as Jubilee went flying into a support pillar.

She fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of her and the flashlight knocked out of her hand. Gasping for breath, Jubilee looked up at her attackers. They were coming at her…at a slow walk. They were so assured of themselves, it was sickening. The flashlight quit rolling and came to a stop, allowing her to get a better look at them. Their eyes were red and their canine teeth were poking out of their mouths. Their skin had also paled to an unnatural pallor.

_They, they, they can't be vampires. They don't exist. They must be some kind of mutant. A really, nasty mutation…that's the same across six individuals._

She grabbed the mace can from her bag beside her and stood up. Her fear had given way to anger and thanks to the daily events of the last two months to this day, she had a lot of anger already built up. "Back off now!" she yelled. They stopped, and then with one accord, three of them jumped at her, moving very fast.

The first one, a girl with several piercings all over her face, got a dose of mace to the face and went down shrieking. The second guy received the stun gun right in his gut. Jubilee saw the black boy with the Mohawk coming. She jumped in the air, brought her feet onto the support beam to gain altitude, and then pushed off towards Mohawk. The spin kick that impacted his jaw sent him stumbling to the side.

Jubilee landed nimbly and took stock of her opponents. To her horror, the three she had just taken down recovered far more quickly than they should have. Piercings got up, wiping mace out of her eyes and snarling. Gut Shot was on his feet already and Mohawk looked barely fazed by the hit to the head. The others, Leader, Goth, and the little guy, Shorty, all looked ticked off. Jubilee decided she had had it.

"The gloves are off," she growled, dropping the stun gun and the can to the ground. Ignoring their looks of surprise, she held up both hands and allowed a glow to form around them. "You creeps aren't the only mutants here." She took up a fighting stance and increased the glow. "Now for the last time, back off."

The Leader frowned in frustration and then regained his cool. "You're the only mutant here. Despite what how we look, we're not mutants. It's so convenient, being mistaken for one of you. Really throws them off from the truth."

"Than what are you?" Jubilee asked in a low voice, attempting desperately to hold back the wave of fear that swept through her at the mere mental suggestion of what these people really were.

The Leader's eyes glowed a malevolent red as he opened his mouth and allowed his fangs to reach their greatest and most frightening length. Somehow, he said, "We're vampires, and you're our first mutant victim." With that, he charged.

Jubilee shrieked in absolute terror and shot off a blast of yellow and purple energy at the Leader's head. The sudden burst of sparkling lights and shriek of a firework made them all jump back with a cry. It took Jubilee's eyes a moment to adjust from the sudden flash, but when she did, she was confronted with a horrifying sight.

The Leader's body stood there, with a wisp of smoke rising from the stump of his neck. Slowly, she realized what had just happened. She had just blown his head off with her powers. What happened next was almost as repulsive. The rest of his body disintegrated into black ash, leaving a little pile there on the ground. Goth crumbled to her knees and stared at the little pile. She picked up some of it in her hands and watched it sift through her fingers. She clenched her fists and Jubilee could hear her start to sob.

Any small of amount of sympathy that Jubilee felt abruptly left when Goth suddenly looked up, the insane rage in her red eyes making her resemble a demon straight from Hell. "KILL THE LITTLE FREAK," she bellowed, pointing at Jubilee. The other "vampires" snapped out of the stupors caused by the sight of their Leader's death and charged towards Jubilee as one.

Without thinking, Jubilee raised her hands and let off two blasts of her fireworks. Gut Shot and Piercings, being the closest, each caught a blast right in the chest. They only had a fraction of a second to register the gaping holes in themselves before they too crumbled into ash. As Jubilee watched their blackened skeletons dissolve into dust, something clicked in her and the anger returned. Any horror at her actions evaporated in the face of her own self-preservation instincts. Her transformed anger turned into outright rage as she looked up towards the retreating forms of Mohawk and Shorty. The fireworks she sent at them took out Mohawk first and then Shorty.

As their instantly cremated bodies floated away on air currents, she looked to where Goth had been kneeling by Leader's ashes. All there was was the pile of ashes. Jubilee looked around in the darkness, her eyes trying to adjust thanks to her power usage. She heard quick footsteps behind her and turning around, fired a blast in their direction. She started shooting in random directions, trying to hit Goth as she circled around Jubilee. _Crap, this girl is fast. Quicksilver would have his hands full with her._ Finally, she stopped shooting and simply waited.

Her patience paid off a minute later. "You think you're something, mutie? You think that you can just walk into our turf and not suffer the consequences?" Jubilee couldn't pinpoint the voice's origin thanks to its echoes.

"You don't own this warehouse or the land it's built on," argued Jubilee. "I'm sorry about your boyfriend, but his overbite probably would have killed him in the long run anyway." She tended to have a big mouth when she got mad.

"You're going to pay for killing Percy, you arrogant, little…."

"Whoa, Percy? I thought for sure his name would be Count Dracula II."

The only sound was an intake of breath, then silence. Jubilee remembered her training and listened hard for the slightest sound. One minute. Two minutes. Two and a half.

Slowly, she gathered her mace can, stun gun, and flashlight, all the while listening for anything at all. At three minutes, nothing happened. _Goth must have decided it wasn't worth it_. Jubilee allowed herself to relax.

That's when the attack came from _above_. Goth slammed onto Jubilee from her perch on the ceiling, where she had probably been the whole time. Before Jubilee could get up or blast her, Goth slugged her in the head. Stars exploded in Jubilee's head and she came close to going unconscious. She barely felt Goth's hands bringing her arm up to her mouth.

What she did feel, and what also woke her back up, was the massive explosion of pain in her right wrist. She screamed and snapped her head around to view the cause. The sight of Goth biting down into her wrist and the blood dripping from the girl's lips nearly brought up her lunch. Still screaming, Jubilee raised her left arm and shot a firework directly into Goth's eyes. She felt the pressure from the girl's teeth vanish as Goth turned to ash.

She stared at the massive wound pumping out blood and suddenly felt dizzy. She didn't know if the adrenaline was wearing off, if she was losing too much blood, if it was her nerves, or if it was all three at once. Holding onto her wrist to stop the bleeding, she lay down on the ground and felt the world slip away. The last thing she was aware of was someone calling her name.

**XMDT-XMDT-XMDT**

"Jubilee, wake up! What happened?"

The voice of her father rang through her ears like a sonic boom, making her head ache. Jubilee groaned and opened her eyes, instantly regretting it. The light in her eyes felt like she was looking directly into the sun. The stimuli from her ears and eyes only the splitting headache she had even worse.

"Dad," she groaned, "the light's hurting my eyes real bad."

Hurriedly the light was put off to one side and Jubilee could see her father leaning over her, worried.

"Jubes, what happened to you?" That's when he looked down at her wrist. "Holy…you're bleeding all over the place," he practically yelled. Jubilee looked down and saw the huge amount of blood drying on her arm and wrist. She could feel more of it behind the hand that she was using to hold it back.

"Jubes, we need to get you to a hospital _now_ ," Mr. Lee said as he yanked out his cell phone and started to dial.

"Dad, if they learn I'm a mutant they'll likely kick me right out." Jubilee remembered what had happened with her fireworks. "The gang that attacked me…I killed them."

Her father stared at her. "You…what?"

"I didn't mean to, I swear," she cried. "I shot one guy and he just disintegrated. The others came at me and I just kept shooting. And that last girl bit me on the wrist. If the school hears about this, they'll expel me in two seconds."

Her dad regained his composure and nodded grimly. "That may not be a problem. Let's get you home. We all need to talk." Jubilee nodded and then tore a strip of cloth from her yellow jacket (which was pretty torn from the fight) and wrapped it around her wrist. It would keep the wound closed against any new bleeding, at least temporarily.

Her dad helped her to her feet and out the door. Jubilee looked back at the small piles of ash as they exited the warehouse. This was going to be a strange tale to tell.

"I started looking for you about ten minutes after you didn't show up," her father explained. "Thankfully, you described the places where you practice very well."

"Thank goodness for that," groaned Jubilee as they started the walk to the car. She checked her watch. 5:24. She had been out for about 6-7 minutes. At least that had allowed time for the blood to clot behind her hand.

The ride home was quiet but hurried. Jubilee could feel her father's gaze upon her and her wound every few minutes. She hoped it wasn't serious; she hadn't taken a good look at the bite marks since she didn't want to bleed to death. She had only gotten a short look just before she passed out.

They arrived at the Lee residence shortly and they hurried inside quickly. They passed by the kitchen where her mother had started to remove the spaghetti from the oven. "Where have you two been? Supper is getting cold." She looked up at them and nearly dropped the pan when she caught sight of the make-shift bandage on Jubilee's wrist. "Oh my…what happened? Is that from school?"

"I'll explain in the bathroom. I need real bandages," Jubilee replied. Her mother set the pan on a hot pad and hurried after them. In the bathroom, she took her jacket and her wrapping off. They all couldn't help but grimace. On the top and bottom of her wrist were the imprints of a human jawline, except they seemed to be made by sharper teeth. The blood had congealed, but moving the bandage had loosened it, allowing fresh drops to escape.

"I was heading to the pick-up point when they cornered me in that warehouse you found me in," Jubilee explained while her mother grabbed a first aid kit. "They closed all the doors and obstructed the windows so I couldn't escape or see. There were six of them. If I didn't know about mutants, I'd say they were vampires. They had the eyes, the teeth, and the stamina for it."

Her mother ripped some large bandages from the kit and began applying hydrogen peroxide to the wound. Jubilee gasped out loud. Her mother winced apologetically while her father held her reassuringly. "Jubes," he said quietly, "what's this about you killing them?" Her mother froze.

"When my 'normal' fighting didn't work and their leader came at me with his mouth of super-sharp teeth, I zapped him. It blew his head off and the rest of him just disintegrated into ash." She drew in her breath as the wrappings were applied to her arm. "When his girlfriend sicced the rest of them on me, I just kept shooting at them. They all disintegrated when I hit them. His girlfriend, or 'girlfiend' I should say, managed to bite my wrist before I got her." She paused as her mother finished wrapping her wrist. "I was only defending myself. I didn't know my fireworks could kill and I was already angry. I'm sorry, but I didn't want to die," she said in a defensive tone.

"We're not upset with you, Jubes" her father reassured her. "It's just that, no parent ever wants to hear their child say they killed someone, even in self-defense."

"We love you, Jubilation Lee, and nothing's going to change that," her mother added, hugging her. Her father hugged her as well, and Jubilee let her emotions out as she hugged back. She sobbed softly as tears poured down her face. If they had just left her alone, she wouldn't have had to shoot, wouldn't have snapped, and wouldn't have lost her innocence. She now knew what it was like to take a life, and there was no going back.

They stayed like for a few moments and then broke apart. "Just," her mother added, "just be careful where you aim, okay?"

Jubilee nodded. "That bit may be easier to deal with," her father said. "We'll explain over dinner."

It's interesting how a good cry and a good meal seems to bring some light back into the world. Jubilee felt much better after eating her mother's spaghetti and meatballs. A career woman and a good cook were a winning combination. As she put down her fork and napkin, Jubilee wondered if she could get her mother to teach Kitty a few things about cooking. When she first came to the Institute, she had attempted to eat one of Kitty's famous muffins. The result was that she had nearly cracked a tooth and almost destroyed the garbage disposal. The look on Logan's face when he had pried the muffin from the disposal's blunted blades had been priceless.

Jubilee stifled a giggle, and at her parents' questioning looks, she told them the story. When they finished laughing, her father wiped his eyes and then cleared his throat. He usually did that before making a life-changing announcement. "Jubilation, we've been thinking and talking. Ever since we made you come back from Xavier's, things have gone downhill for you in school. We didn't think that things would get as bad as they have. When your mother and I were in school, we got teased because we were new to the country." Her parents were Chinese immigrants who had managed to leave the People's Republic of China at an early age.

"Unlike you," her mother continued, "the incidents was few and far between, and those who did it were looked down on as bullies and racists. We thought, at first, that it would be the same for you, but we were wrong. And we're so sorry."

"If we had known it would get this bad, we never would have withdrawn you from the Institute. We're so sorry, and we've decided to send you back. Can you ever forgive us?" Mr. Lee finished.

In one second, Jubilee was off her chair and trying to hug her parents at the same time. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she squealed. She then drew herself up and gave them a mock glare. "And yes, I forgive you."

Her parents smiled and together they cleaned up the dining room. As Jubilee was finishing up with the dishes, she suddenly felt light-headed and nauseous. Her sense of balance went off and she nearly crashed into the counter. "Jubes," her father said as he steadied her, "are you okay?"

Jubilee groaned. "I'm not feeling so hot all of a sudden. I'll finish my homework and go to bed." She couldn't help but notice that she could literally feel her father's pulse through his hand, and hear his heartbeat. She could also her mother's heartbeat pick up in worry from across the room. For some strange reason, Jubilee felt a thrill, almost primal in nature, race through her body. She shook it off. "I'll tell you if it gets worse."

Her father helped her to her room and gave her a worried look as he left. Jubilee struggled to make her body and brain cooperate as she finished her algebra and biology homework. The feeling slowly got worse, and as she finished the last problem, and got up to undress, it struck her with the force of a blow. "Dad, Mom," she croaked as she stumbled to the door. The vertigo struck again, and as she crumbled to the ground, she thought that her room was brighter than it was a moment ago. _I thought my lamp was the only light on._ Then darkness claimed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens. Hope you enjoyed it!


	3. Transformations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 3 of X-Men: Light within Darkness. I hope you're all enjoying this and that Jubilee's transformation draws further into my story. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Transformations

Jubilee moaned and opened her eyes for the second time in the last 12 hours. The nausea and vertigo were gone, but now she felt pretty stiff. Heck, she felt like she hadn't moved in a month. As she stood and almost every joint in her body popped, she noticed that room was too bright, considering the fact only her desk lamp was on. She was amazed that her ankle bones were still in one piece by the time she crossed her bedroom to study it. They were cracking like crazy.

It didn't look different than when she had turned it on last night. She reached over and turned it off. What happened next was strange. As soon as the light was off, everything went black only to have her eyes adjust almost instantly. She had witnessed the phenomena like every other person, except it had never happened this fast before and she was certain that it wasn't this bright at night. She opened her window and was nearly blinded. She squinted and looked away. A moment later she realized that she had been looking at the full moon, which right now looked as bright as the sun. She looked over at the alarm clock on her bedside drawer and saw the time. 5:32 in the morning.

Jubilee knew she wasn't going to go back to sleep; she felt rested, heck, she felt great now that the stiffness was gone. She simply picked out her clothes for the day and went into her bathroom. There's a grimy feeling that comes with sleeping in your clothes and she wanted it off.

_I must have caught some really weird kind of bug_ she thought while working the shampoo through her hair. _I feel so crappy and then I collapse, only to feel great when I wake up on the floor_. She finished showering and cleaning up. She grimaced at what was left of her yellow jacket, her second one because of the explosion at the Institute. She had gotten one just like her first because she liked the style and the color just suited her. She'd go buy another one when she got the chance.

She looked over herself once more in the mirror and gave the reflection her approval. She suddenly jumped a foot and then looked real closely at her eyes. For a moment, she could have sworn they had turned a blood-red instead of their usual hazel. _Must be seeing things._

She opened the door to find her bleary-eyed mother looking at her. "Jubilee, what are you doing up? It's six in the morning." Usually Jubes wasn't up for at least another hour.

"I woke up and knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep," Jubilee replied.

"How are you feeling? You looked pretty sick before you went to bed."

Jubilee shrugged. "I feel great, for someone who collapsed on the floor after finishing their homework."

"You collapsed? Honey, why didn't you call us? We thought you were fine."

"Sorry mom. I tried calling for you guys but I was so weak. I couldn't even stand up straight. Frankly, I'm amazed I finished my homework."

Her mother sighed. "Well, whatever it was, you appear to be alright. How's the wrist?"

Jubilee held it up. "It feels good. I avoided getting it wet in the shower…." She trailed off and moved her wrist around experimentally. Then she removed the bandage quickly.

"What are you doing? It's not done healing," her mother protested. She grabbed the wrapping before it could hit the floor. "You shouldn't," she started, but then she stopped and stared.

The bite mark was completely gone. There was no sign of blood; there wasn't even a scar. "How?" her mother whispered.

Jubilee starred at it and then said, "Maybe I've developed a healing factor. That's it. My powers have changed to include a healing factor. That's why I was so sick last night." She smiled.

Her mother looked puzzled. "Healing factor?"

"It's a passive ability, involuntary. You can basically heal at a much quicker rate than usual. If it's strong enough, you can even regenerate lost organs or limbs. Though, the only mutants I know of that have that ability are bestial-type mutants," she mused.

"Well, at least that awful bite is gone," her mother said. "That looked dangerous. Would you mind turning the coffee pot on? I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Sure thing, mom." Jubilee felt like squealing as she went down the stairs. _I have a healing factor! Not showy, but incredibly useful. Wolverine isn't the only indestructible one now._ That thought only reminded her that she would be going back to the Institute in a few days. Those would be spent transferring her school credits to Bayville High and packing. She felt like singing as she put the coffee pot on and got the eggs out. Maybe now when she went back to the Institute, she would be allowed higher levels in the Danger Room, maybe even become an X-Man (or X-Woman) faster than expected. She figured that most of the others had likely graduated from the New Mutants, or maybe even turned into their own team.

She smiled as she got the milk out. Things were finally looking up for her.

**XMLD-XMLD-XMLD**

She barely noticed the insults and the bigots as she went to school and sat through her classes. The anger from yesterday had pretty much vanished. She knew there would be the same garbage at Bayville but at least she wouldn't be alone. Being alone when you were in a targeted minority was awful. Being with others who understood you made it bearable. Right now, the elation from it all worked like a telekinetic shield. Not even Nurse Kelly could have dampened her mood.

It lasted until just after lunch. A nerd would have said that her brain was coming off the dopamine high created by the news and that her body was starting to tire after her good night's sleep. It was some of that, and it was also the page full of crude jokes about the X-Men she found in her locker. That pretty much put her back in a foul mood.

She knew just who wrote most of the jokes; Angelina's g's looked way too much like q's. Penmanship was not her strong suite, amongst other things. When she found Angelina and her minions outside the girl's room giggling at her approach, she could guess easily what they were giggling about.

Jubilee held the paper out and shook it. "I bet you think this is hilarious."

Deedee flipped her hair and smirked. "Of course it is, Jubes. If it has to do with your freak-friends, it's automatically hilarious."

Jubilee simply glared and proceeded to crumble the paper into a ball and throw it at a garbage can. She nailed it too. "What's funny is that you'll forget that garbage without that list."

"We won't have to remember them," piped up Mindy. "We printed a bunch of them and posted them all over the school. Everyone's going to see and remember them." Jubilee realized that earlier she had wondered why people were gathering around the bulletin boards and laughing up a storm. She hadn't bothered to check it out. She looked past Mindy at such a group. Their laughter grew as they realized that she was looking their way and one of the jocks cracked a real dirty one concerning Kurt's tail.

Jubilee slowly turned back to the three girls. "What did a mutant ever do to you? Why do you hate the X-Men? All they've ever done is help people. They saved this stinking world, and _you_ , from Apocalypse. Now, why?"

"One, you were born," said Angelina. "Two, the X-Men were saving their own hides when they took on that blue mutie. All they wanted to do was to make sure they had all the power. They'd be nothing if everyone had powers."

"They stopped Apocalypse because he would have killed millions of people, millions who wouldn't have survived the transition," Jubilee said quietly. She looked Angelina in the eye and lowered her voice. "I wonder which would have been worse for you: To be a mutant, or to be dead. I hope you would have become a mutant, the very thing you hate so much."

Angelina sniffed and held her nose in the air. Deedee and Mindy followed suit. "Well, maybe you should have helped Apocalypse. That temper of yours would be good for a villain."

Jubilee's anger flared inside and she spoke through gritted teeth. "And your petty arrogance and stupidity would make for an excellent-." She was cut off by Mindy's shriek.

"Look at her EYES! And her TEETH! She looks like a VAMPIRE," she screamed. Both Deedee and Angelina jumped back, starring at her in horror. Mindy's cries drew the attention of passersby and people began pointing at Jubilee. Their reactions ranged from fear to caution to anger. Most hurried away, while a group, mostly jocks, began to advance on her.

Panicked, Jubilee ran past Angelina and her clique into the girl's restroom. She ran over to a mirror and starred into it. She nearly screamed at the sight of her reflection. Her eyes were a flaming blood-red, just like the gang that had attacked her. Only their red eyes had been freaky; seeing the same thing set in her face was terrifying. Slowly, she opened her mouth to reveal a set of fangs, with the canines being the longest and sharpest.

Very slowly, she crumbled to the ground and began shaking. The perfect day had just gone sour in a matter of minutes. _Oh no. That gang, they really were vampires. And I've become one. Oh dear Lord, please let this be a dream, please let this be a dream, please let this be a DREAM._ She reached down and pinched her arm hard with her fingernails. The pain, nonexistent in the realm of dreams and nightmares, was cruelly felt in the real world. She could feel the tears threatening to spill over.

She barely noticed two bathroom doors opening. Then someone hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see the green-haired girl looking at her, concerned. The other girl looked at Jubilee, gasped, and then left hurriedly, looking over her shoulder the whole time.

Green-hair sighed. "It's the pits, isn't it? When your mutation practically turns on you."

Jubilee took a closer look at her. She looked to be about 17, tall, and a bit on the pale side. "Are you…" Jubilee started to ask.

The girl shook her head. "No. My little brother. When he turned fourteen, he started controlling rocks. Then a month ago, he turns into this six foot tall rock-man while walking down the street. No one from school saw him, and neither did any cameras. Some anti-mutant supremacist almost had a mob come after him. That jerk better be glad I'm not a mutant."

_I bet._ The fire in the girl's eyes spoke of outrage for society's crimes against her kid brother. "I'm Jubilee, by the way."

She smiled. "Janet," she responded. "And my brother's name is Brandon."

The door opened and the lunch lady came in. "Is everything alright? I heard screaming." She caught sight of Jubilee's eyes and gasped. Jubilee hung her head sadly.

She heard the lunch lady walk up to them and stop. "Ms. Lee, look at me please." Jubilee raised her head and looked at the mirror first. Her eyes were still the same angry red that she had glimpsed in her bathroom mirror that morning. Then she looked the lunch lady in the eye.

The lunch lady kneeled down to face Jubilee. "Ms. Lee, what race am I?"

"Black," she answered quietly.

The woman nodded. "I was your age when the Civil Rights Movement was going on. People discriminated against me because of my skin color, and I'm not about to do the same thing against you because you have red eyes, sharp teeth, or any other differences. You are a person first and foremost."

_Except I might not be a person anymore_ Jubilee thought. _I'm a predator, a hunter of humans. A monster._

"And besides," the lunch lady continued, "your eyes just turned back to normal."

Jubilee jumped up and looked in the mirror. Her familiar hazel irises looked back at her. She opened her mouth to reveal a perfectly human set of teeth. She slumped with relief. _Maybe, maybe I can control this. Maybe there's hope._

"Let's get you out of here," Janet said. "If people see you now, they might not believe anyone who saw your vamp eyes." Jubilee cringed inwardly. "Or if they do, you have a better chance of escaping out there than in here."

"Good idea. Thanks," answered Jubilee. As she turned towards the door, she looked at the lunch lady. "I never caught your name."

"It's Melinda May. I should honestly clean my name card."

"Thanks, Melinda, for everything."

"You're welcome." And knowing that she had some allies, human allies nonetheless, Jubilee opened the door.

**XMLD-XMLD-XMLD**

A quarter after three o'clock found Jubilee at an abandoned lot safe from prying eyes. Thankfully, she hadn't gotten in trouble when she left the relative safety of the restroom, the reasons being her eyes weren't red and her teeth weren't sharp anymore, and that she hadn't done anything with them. The only downside to the rest of the afternoon, besides the problems she was having with algebra, was that no one besides Janet, Melinda, or Mr. Nelson had come close to her for the rest of the day, which was actually a relief in some ways.

It hadn't happened again so far and Jubilee was grateful for that. It was bad enough if people knew you had red eyes and sharp fangs for teeth. Seeing it was worse, and the last thing she needed was for people to begin to suspect that she really was a vampire. What was that the Leader had said? _"Despite how we look, we're not mutants. It's so convenient, being mistaken for one of you. Really throws them off from the truth."_ How many vampire attacks or sightings had been blamed on mutants? And why had her fireworks fried them?

_Wait a minute. If my powers are lethal to vampires, and I've become one, what will my powers do to me? Will I still be able to use them, or will I disintegrate into ash like those guys?_ Suddenly Jubilee wasn't feeling that eager to practice her powers.

She decided to just practice her acrobatics and martial arts instead. She started by flipping around and using walls as leaping points. She kicked and punched through pieces of woods she had set up earlier. Soon she realized that not only was it easier than before, she was leaping farther and hitting harder than ever. Little by little, she began calling up her anger and as she did, she only got faster and stronger.

She stopped and took out a makeup mirror from a purse she kept in her bag while in school. She popped it open and didn't even flinch when she saw her reflected vamparic eyes and teeth. She was honestly getting used to the look. She also noticed that her skin seemed paler than her usual complexion. _Red eyes, sharp fangs, pale skin, check, check, check. I've got the agility and the strength too. What about the enhanced senses?_ She sat down and concentrated on her senses of sight, hearing, and smell. The lot, which was darkened by the nearby buildings, lit up to the finest details. She could hear cars a few blocks away, a rat hiding behind the dumpster across from her, and even insects skittering amongst the pebbles a few yards away. Her nose detected a moldering pizza in the same dumpster, a cat watching her from a second story window, and blood. Her head snapped towards the smell and she concentrated fully on locating the source. Alley to left, 30 yards, young male, knife. Some punk kid had cut his hand with his own knife. She pulled her concentration from the information and breathed hard. _Now, what about weaknesses?_

Her mother kept some garlic in the pantry, and she herself had a cross necklace in her jewelry box. There was also some real silver plates and utensils they kept for special occasions that she could use for testing. Right now the only test for vamparic weaknesses available was sunlight.

The buildings around her kept the sunlight from shining directly into the lot except at noon, and it was nearly four right now. Jubilee spotted a fire escape that would allow her to test the light. She had been under direct sunlight earlier and had experienced no adverse side effects, but she wasn't going all vampire when outside. And she had been indoors during her episode earlier.

She got up, walked over to the escape, and jumped up to the first level, just below where the light was striking the building. She made sure she was going vampire in her mirror, and then took a deep breath. Not hesitating, she stuck her hand directly into the light.

Nothing. Zip. Nada.

She breathed a sigh of relief and then jumped down to the ground. She would test the other supposed "vampire allergies" later. To tell the truth, she was actually starting to like her new powers. But how did they work with her original abilities? She found a wide piece of wood and drew a gross caricature of Gary Anderson on it. She set it up and walked a few yards away. She held out her hand and thought back to what she had done almost a full day ago. A gang of vampires had attacked her and she had fried them by just raising her hands and using her natural mutant abilities. Now she was a vampire (or so she thought), and she had no idea if her powers would turn her into a pile of ash or not. She whispered a quick prayer and then started to count down from ten in Chinese. The original language of her parents helped to calm her sometimes.

"Shi, jiu, ba." This was probably the most important countdown of her life. She was about to see if her own powers could kill her. A day ago it had been simple: She shot fireworks from her hands. Now she had the abilities of a vampire. Could she have both and live?

"Qi, lok, wu." She could be dead within a matter of seconds. A single gene would be responsible because her DNA had been altered by something that shouldn't even exist, something that her powers vaporized on contact.

"Si, san, er." What if she died, was turned into an unidentifiable pile of ash? Her parents would never find her body, probably never figure out what happened to her. She would never see them again, never see her friends at the Institute again, never see gruff Mr. Logan, kind Storm, smart Mr. McCoy, or wise Professor Xavier ever again. She would never see Bobby Drake or his impish smile in this world.

"Yi." She fired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I came to the last sentence and decided that it would make a good cliffhanger. Man, that feels so good to leave it hanging like that. Don't worry; the resolution to this evil cliffhanger will come in the next chapter.


	4. Back to Bayville

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, my fourth chapter. If any of my readers is a fan of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I wasn't trying to use May's name for the lunch lady. The first and last names for her just came to mind. That's one good series if anyone is interested. Great tech, great twists, and a great story. Anyway, on to the fourth chapter of X-Men: Light within Darkness.

Chapter 4: Back to Bayville

The blast of light and the shriek of a firework caused Jubilee to cry out involuntarily. It was much brighter and louder than usual and she fully expected for her hand and then her arm to start disintegrating. She opened her eyes hesitantly to behold…a perfectly healthy hand.

She held her arm out in front of her and studied it from different angles. As far as she could tell, she was perfectly fine. She squealed and then laughed as she caught sight of the Gary Anderson target she had been shooting at. There was a pretty big hole right where his mouth had been. Taking aim once more, she let her powers rip.

Her fireworks weren't just brighter and louder now. Instead of being purple and yellow with bursts of random colored lights flashing off, the blast was black and red with the mini bursts ranging from yellow to red with the occasional white one. The firework slammed into the target a second time, shattering it and sending the pieces flying everywhere. She grinned as she surveyed the damage. Not only were her mutant powers _not_ going to kill her, but they had been enhanced! She wasn't sure she liked the color scheme but she wasn't going to complain too much about that.

She hummed as she gathered her stuff up and headed out for home. She felt great as she ran through the warehouses and lots at above-average speeds, only slowing down when she came up on a crowded sidewalk. These new powers would really help with the X-Men's missions. Right now she only had two problems with her new situation: The vampire allergies she had yet to test and the fact she should probably tell her parents and the X-Men about what had happened to her. That last thought pulled her up short. _How will that go over? Hey everyone, it's great to see you again and, oh yeah, I'm a vampire. Anyone up for a trip to the mall?_

She cringed at the thought of what they would do if they found out she was a vampire. Images flashed through her mind of Kurt holding a silver cross towards her as a ward while Jean hurled wooden stakes. Kitty threatening her with a piece of garlic while Amara powered up her flame abilities. The cover art of Rogue's Anne Rice novels were slashed open to reveal Wolverine dipping his claws into holy water and then turning towards her with a snarl. Their faces were all twisted with fear, disgust, and hatred. Hurriedly she shook her head.

_These are my friends for crying out loud! They're not going to kill me right off the bat. That's a pretty good pun there. Besides, I haven't ripped someone's throat out and drained their veins. I can smell blood and it smells pretty good, but that doesn't mean I'm going to drink the stuff. Maybe blood just smells good when you have an enhanced nose._

"Ow!" She looked towards the cry of pain to see a little boy about eight years old on the ground crying. He was holding his right hand with his left. He had apparently tripped and scraped his hand on the concrete. Her thoughts forgotten, she rushed over to help him up.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she helped him to his feet.

He sniffed. "I fell down and my hand hurts." He held it out to her. There were a few small cuts in close proximity to each other, easily covered by a band-aid. She had a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide along with a few band-aids in one of her bag's compartments. Ever since the incident at the Institute, she always kept a few essentials on her person in case of an emergency. Granola bars, bottles of water, and a few other items.

"This is going to sting a little," she soothed as she brought the bottle to his outstretched hand. As she looked into his palm, she stopped short.

Oozing up through the cuts in his skin was blood. As soon as she saw it, her senses went on overdrive, focused entirely on the red drops. She could see the tiny indentations in the boy's skin fill up with blood just like an irrigation ditch. She could smell the fluid; it seemed like a combo of iron, cinnamon, and chocolate. She could hear the sticky sound of it as it came to the surface, as well as more of it flowing to the wound, pulsing with his heartbeat. A craving unlike any other overcame her rational mind, an urge to put her mouth to the cuts and suck like a baby on its mother's milk, accompanied by the instinct to grab the boy and keep him from struggling. She felt her fangs starting to elongate, but, mercifully, she was interrupted.

"Bobby," called a feminine voice. Jubilee snapped out of her trance and looked up to see a tall woman hurrying towards them. Jubilee quickly applied the hydrogen peroxide and started searching for a band-aid. The boy let out a muffled yelp as it started to bubble.

The woman came up to them and kneeled down by her son. "Bobby, don't wander off from me again. What happened?"

"Mommy, I tripped and cut myself," the boy explained. "She helped me." Jubilee tried to hold down the sudden explosion of guilt that shot through her heart. She took out the band-aid and waited for the hydrogen peroxide to quit bubbling. The sizzling sounded like bubblewrap to her ears.

"Thank you for helping my son," the woman smiled. She looked quizzically at the bottle, the band-aids, and the open compartment on Jubilee's bag. "You carry band-aids and hydrogen peroxide wherever you go?" she enquired.

"Yeah," Jubilee responded. "A gas line near my old home blew up and took the house with it. Nobody was hurt, but we didn't have anything for a while. I started carrying stuff with me just in case." It was half true: her home had exploded. She just hadn't mentioned it was the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters or that it was the mansion's self-destruct device that blew it up. She hoped she could get Mystique back for that. "I need to go now. My parents are waiting for me."

"Go ahead, and thanks again," the woman said. "Bobby, what do we say?"

"Thank you," Bobby answered, smiling at Jubilee.

Jubilee smiled back, but as soon as her back was turned, the smile melted into a look of horror and guilt. The boy's name brought up memories of Bobby Drake, the Iceman. She remembered the ice ballerina he had made to show her, the time they had taken the X-Jet for a joy ride, and the Sadie-Hawkins Dance. _What would he think of me? I just considered draining a kid of his blood. A kid! Holy crap, this…this is worse than I thought. Okay, as soon as Xavier comes to pick me up, I'm telling my parents and the instructors. Mr. McCoy might be able to create a cure, and I think Logan's healing factor would allow for multiple blood donations._ What really scared her was that half of her was revolted by the whole thing, while the other half was thinking about the incident and enjoying the memory of that obscene craving. Half of her wanted this!

She thought about it all the way back home. She resolved to test the other weaknesses as soon as possible. She had heard the pulses of both her parent's and felt her father's last night. She was attuned to the human circulatory system. They needed to have something to defend against her if she really gave in to temptation. She couldn't help up choking up as she thought about her few friends and protectors at school. If they learned that her eyes and teeth weren't caused by her mutation, but by vamparicism, she could kiss their support goodbye real quick. A mutant was one thing, a vampire was something else entirely. Magneto may believe that mutants were a superior species, but they didn't prey on humans for their blood. Jubilee sighed and pulled herself back together as she came up to her house. _Just test for any other weaknesses after dinner and tell them as soon as the X-Men get here. I just hope I can eat dinner. Oh, and be sure to ask Xavier about Brandon. He sounds like a good kid._

She had promised Janet she would speak to Professor Xavier about Brandon coming to the Institute. Nobody at their school knew about his mutation but that was usually a matter of time. Then again, going to the Institute might only expose him far earlier than otherwise. She honestly hoped that Xavier's dream of humans and mutants coexisting could become reality but right now, she didn't think it would happen in his lifetime or hers. _Wait a minute._ _I'm a freaking vampire. Of course I'll be around for that. Assuming I don't get staked first._

When asked about her day, Jubilee didn't mention the incident with her eyes and teeth. She'd tell them when Xavier dropped in to pick her up. When she asked about that, her mother told her that: "Professor Xavier said that he and a Mr. McCoy would be dropping around tomorrow. I already contacted the school about transferring your credits to Bayville High. They were pretty quick with it." Thankfully, the next day was a Saturday. Her parents would take her finished homework for the weekend to the school this Monday.

Jubilee noticed that her mother's usually delicious fish tacos tasted rather bland. Adding condiments didn't help much but she didn't say much about it. Her parents had enough to put up with her mutation, her school issues, and now her vamparicism. A bland taco was nothing compared to that.

While she was putting away the washed and dried dishes, she found one of her mother's silver special occasion plates. Taking a deep breath, she tapped it quickly with a forefinger. When nothing happened, she placed her whole hand on the plate. Still nothing. With the garlic, she found a clove of it in the pantry. It didn't hurt her at all, even when she popped it into her mouth and gave it a chew. She did find the taste of raw garlic incredibly unpleasant though. When she went upstairs to finish the thankfully small amount of weekend homework she had been given, she dug through her jewelry box until she found the necklace with a small silver cross on it. She found she could both look at it and touch it.

_This is both good and bad_ Jubilee thought. _On one hand, nobody like Anderson or the FOH can use those things against me. On the other, if I go blood-crazy, none of the good guys will be able to stop me. Of course, Professor Xavier could stop me with a good mental assault, hopefully. And I'm pretty sure I'm not adamantium-proof._ Jubilee hurriedly shook her head. Thinking about ways your friends and mentors could kill was way too morbid. She found the history of the American Civil War to be a much better alternative, ironically.

When Jubilee finished up her homework, she got onto her email account to check her inbox. After deleting the copious amount of hate mail, she found a few from her friends at the Institute, including one from Bobby with an attached photo of himself in his new X-Man uniform. Most of the New Mutants had formed their own group, which they called "X-Force." Basically, it was a more experienced version of the New Mutants. She wondered which group she should join. X-Force would have most of her friends, while the X-Men were slightly more prestigious and had Bobby as a member. _How will this vampire thing affect us? I know he finds me attractive and I think I like him back, but I'm a vampire now. If he finds out, I'll be lucky to remain his friend, let alone date him._

The last email in her inbox caught her eye as it was from Rahne. She opened it to discover that the Scottish mutant was coming back as well. Jubilee thought back to when they had all shared how their powers had manifested. Her own had been during a fireworks show. Rahne's was far more traumatic. The village where she had lived in Scotland had turned out to hunt her, thinking her a werewolf. The priest that Rahne had considered a father figure had led the mob, crying out that she was child of the devil. Jubilee couldn't help but notice the extreme irony. Rahne was a total mutant with the ability to turn into a wolf and a werewolf-like form, prompting her to be mistaken for the creature. She, on the other hand, was now a vampire/mutant hybrid who was still believed to be just a mutant even when her vamparic features had been exposed in public. Maybe that was just because people knew about mutants.

Jubilee finished writing her response to Rahne's email and just sat on her bed, thinking about the possibilities that her transformation implicated. If vampires were real, what about werewolves? How many mutants in the past had been persecuted as monsters? What if some of the victims of the Salem Witch trials had really been mutants? How many of the creatures of the night in the Middle Ages were really the first mutants and how many mutant misdeeds today was really the work of actual monsters? Her world had just become more complicated.

Yawning, Jubilee decided that those questions were better thought about in the morning. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, wished her parents good night, and then went to bed. She didn't fall asleep until her mind finally quieted down. What she didn't notice was that her night vision wasn't as good as it had been in the early morning.

**XMLD-XMLD-XMLD**

The next day found Jubilee waiting nervously in her living room for Professor Xavier and Mr. McCoy to arrive. She had spent the morning packing her things for the Institute. She had also rehearsed how she would tell them and her parents she was a vampire. The professor's telepathy would confirm her story. It was incredibly unbelievable unless you could see it for yourself. She just hoped that he would still take her in. She remembered wanting to drink that boy's blood all too well. It would be a glaring warning sign to any telepath that took an extensive look through her memories. _Vampire here! Expose veins and get cut at your own risk._

She winced as she remembered that Jean's telepathy was both passive and strong. One wrong thought around her and she would know everything. _Okay, she's one of the first people I'm telling. A secret like this isn't worth keeping from someone who can find out just by walking close to you._ So far, she planned on telling her parents, the Professor, Mr. McCoy, Logan, Storm, Jean, and Scott, and eventually everyone else. After the instructors, she'd probably start with Bobby or Rahne; Bobby because they had a mutual crush going on, and Rahne because she understood what it was like to be mistaken for a true monster. Except Jubilee had become the real deal, not a mutant with vamparic features.

_Then again, maybe this whole thing is part of my mutation. Some mutations do change and develop as time goes on. But, those changes usually reflect on a change or upgrade to the original abilities, and besides the fact my fireworks have gotten stronger and changed color, most of my changes have been physical and mental. Maybe Mr. McCoy can check my DNA at the Institute, if the Professor approves of me going there. This can go wrong in so many ways._

She wasn't feeling that good about this. To tell the truth, she didn't feel good period. It was like she had a bad cold without the coughing or the mucus. She felt fatigued, breakfast had barely had any taste to it, and her senses were barely functioning on a normal level. Getting up and looking in a small mirror showed that her skin had gotten even paler than yesterday. Her complexion matched Rogue's now, which was rather strange to see. All she needed was a little dark lipstick and eyeliner and she'd make a pretty good Goth.

She jumped when the doorbell went off. She took a moment to collect her thoughts as her mother answered the door. _Well, no point in procrastinating. Pivotal moment in my life, here I come._ It was a pivotal moment in her life, just as when she found out she was a mutant, or when her parents took her out of the Institute. Only this time, she had to show Professor Charles Xavier, the world's most powerful telepath, that she was a vampire and that she was not a threat to the others at the Institute. If he approved, she could go back to the Institute where her friends were, people who understood her. If he saw her as a monster, she would have to go back to school tomorrow, worrying constantly that her new secret would be exposed. Breathing in and out, she opened the living room door to admit the Professor and Mr. McCoy.

"Professor, Mr. McCoy, it's good to see you again." Inwardly she cringed. She would be a lot more enthusiastic if it wasn't for this entire vampire thing. They'd notice that.

The Professor smiled from his wheelchair. "It's good to see you too, Jubilee." The Professor always had a calming effect on those around him, which she was thankful for. Though she could tell he was studying her, wondering why she was acting so subdued. "I'm glad your parents have decided to let you come back to my Institute. The others were excited to hear you were coming back."

"I'm excited too, Professor. How is everybody?"

"They're good," he answered as Mr. McCoy wheeled him besides an easy chair. Her parents came in behind them. "Things have settled down since Apocalypse was defeated, and Magneto won't be causing any more trouble."

"A relief in both cases," added Mr. McCoy. He looked at Jubilee closely. "Jubilee, have you been getting enough sun? A vitamin D deficiency isn't good for your skeletal system."

"Yes, I've been getting enough sun, _and_ exercise, if Logan is wondering," she answered, covering her nerves in a wry smile. "There are a couple of things I need to tell you, in a few minutes," she added while sitting down.

"Of course," nodded the Professor. Turning to Jubilee's parents, he started. "Now, are there any questions?" Her parents asked the usual stuff about the Institute and Bayville High that they had last time. While Jubilee prepared her speech about Brandon and her newfound vamparicsim, the Professor explained that the school board at Bayville High prohibited the Institute's students from using their powers while on school grounds.

Yes, the students did face the same kind of discrimination from their peers, but they did have each other and the Institute to fall back on. No, Danger Room sessions hadn't gotten more dangerous, though they did up the levels as the students got more experienced. Yes, security measures had been upgraded in the aftermath of both the Sentinel Incident and Apocalypse's attempted takeover.

By the time her parents had their questions answered, Jubilee's stomach felt like it had dragonflies instead of butterflies buzzing around in it. The sudden episodes of vertigo didn't help either. After this, she was either going to see a doctor or have Mr. McCoy do a check-up on her at the Institute, depending on how the Professor felt about vampires.

"Jubilee." She nearly jumped at the sound of the Professor's voice. The concerned look in his eye showed her he could either discern or sense the tension raging in her. "You said you had a few things you wanted to tell me."

"Um, yes professor." Jubes took a quick moment to gather her thoughts. "There's a friend of mine at school, Janet Watson. Her brother Brandon is a mutant. He's been able to hide his rock-abilities for a few months now. He nearly had a mob come after him when his powers acted up while in public. You might want to contact his family about him joining the Institute." She told him their number.

The Prof nodded. "Yes. Unfortunately, the number of mutants manifesting has been far too much for the Institute to handle. I should look into expanding. I will contact his family about him joining the Institute."

"Professor Xavier," piped up Mr. Lee. "The day before yesterday, Jubilee was attacked by a mutant gang while on her way home. She may want to tell you what happened herself." Jubilee looked at her dad out of the corner of the eye. She'd much rather start telling him herself.

"Jubilee, what happened?" enquired Hank, giving her a concerned look.

She sighed. Time to tell one of the most bizarre stories ever told, which was rich considering she was a mutant, living in an incredibly strange world.

"I headed home after school. I had gotten detention for getting in a fight, one," she added pointedly, "which I didn't begin or end. I was going through an abandoned warehouse when all the doors and windows were slammed shut. It was dark and then I saw them." She took a breath.

"There were six of them. I tried reasoning with them, and when that didn't work, I used my stun gun and my mace." She snorted. "That barely slowed them down. They were stronger and faster than normal, and it wasn't just that. Their eyes were red and their teeth were like fangs. They looked just like vampires. Their leader claimed that they were vampires, and when he tried to bite me, I used my powers on him." Her voice decided to crack right then. "I…I killed him. My fireworks, or plasmoids as you call them," she gestured to Mr. McCoy, "disintegrated his head, and then the rest of him turned to ash."

"Oh dear Lord," whispered the Professor, horror written on his face and Mr. McCoy's.

"When his 'girlfiend' sicced the rest of them on me, I killed them. All of them." Jubilee couldn't help but clench her fists. "They just wouldn't leave me alone," she whispered. "And then, the girlfriend managed to jump me. She hit me in the head and then bit my wrist. I blasted her and then blacked out."

"That's how I found her," her father said quietly. "We never should have taken her from the Institute. Everything at school and then this…." He covered his face with his hands.

"Jian," her mother put a hand on his shoulder and whispered a few comforting Chinese words to him. Jubilee felt a surge of guilt. Her parents had no idea that it was even worse than that, and she was planning on telling them that she was a full-on vampire. Any resentment she still felt towards them evaporated right then and there. New plan: Tell the Professor via telepathy. There was no way she was telling her parents that she was a vampire now. They had enough guilt.

_Professor_ Jubilee thought as loudly as she could.

_Jubilee, not so loud. I can hear you just fine_ replied the familiar psychic voice of the Professor.

Jubilee "lowered" her thoughts' volume before continuing. _There's more to the story than that. Telling you all now would only hurt my parents more. I'll wait until we're on the Blackbird to explain._

_Is this something that your parents should hear?_ The prof asked. _I can sense your unease Jubilee. I don't have to dig to see that you're afraid, afraid I'm not going to accept you back._ Jubilee looked at him, startled. She could see the concern in his eyes, both for her and for whatever it was that made her afraid he would reject her. _If it's about the gang that attacked you, it's not your fault. You were just defending yourself. I'm not going to leave you on your own because of that._

_Professor, please_ Jubilee thought back. _It's worse, and I'll explain when we're on the jet. This is something you need to know._

The Professor gave her an odd look and then turned to her parents. Her mother was still speaking to her father. Xavier knitted his eyebrows together in concentration. Suddenly, her parents just froze there. Jubilee concentrated on her own gifts and managed to pick up their heartbeats with her ears. They were both alive but unmoving. "What in the…."

"I've used my telepathy to freeze your parents' minds," Xavier said. "They're alright and they'll be fine when I let them go. Since most people don't consciously keep track of time, they'll simply be surprised that my visit took so long."

"Charles, why are you doing this?" asked Mr. McCoy. He hadn't heard a word of their mental exchange, and looked rather perturbed at the Professor's mental pausing of her parents.

"Hank, Jubilee told me via my telepathy that there's more to her story than she's let her parents know. Whatever it is, she's afraid it'll hurt her parents more and that I won't let her come back to the Institute because of it."

Mr. McCoy raised an eyebrow and looked at Jubilee, puzzled.

Jubilee took a deep breath. A week ago, if someone had told her she would be telling the Headmaster of the Xavier Institute that she was a vampire, she would have said they were nuts. "I thought those gangbangers were just mutants. But I'm pretty sure that when a mutant bites you…." She paused and called upon her newfound powers to show themselves. The sensitivity of her sight, hearing, smell, and touch increased beyond a normal human but not by much, not this time. She knew that her eyes had changed to that frightening shade of red, and as her teeth became fangs meant for piercing soft flesh and veins, she opened her mouth and revealed them. Glancing down at her hands, she realized that her pale skin didn't visibly change, even to her vamparic vision. She became aware of the Professor's and Beast's heartbeats going up. She looked them full in the eye as she finished. "You don't get that mutant's powers. That does happen with vampires though."

"Oh my stars and garters," breathed Mr. McCoy, staring at her.

"Professor, look through my memories. You need to know what taking me back means," Jubilee said quietly.

The Professor nodded slowly, put his hands to his temple, and closed his eyes. Jubilee gasped and clutched the chair as she began to relive the past two days. The fight in the hall, detention, the attack, her collapse, awakening, the incident outside the girl's restroom, testing her new abilities, and finally, the temptation to drain the little boy of his life's blood. Then it ended.

"Oh my…," whispered the Professor, staring at her. "We need to get you back to the Institute, figure out a cure for this."

"Fine with me prof. The benefits don't outweigh the costs," agreed Jubilee.

"I'll just unfreeze your parents and get to the Blackbird." Jubilee hurriedly calmed her vamparic side down and when her parents started moving again, she got up and embraced them. The rest of the meeting was a blur to Jubilee. Telling the Prof about her "healing factor," packing her things into an extra taxi, giving her parents her last farewell.

"Remember, we'll always love you," her father told her in Chinese, smiling.

"Take care, little firework," her mother teased.

Jubilee reflected on her nickname as they drove to the airport. When she was little, she had had a real flare for loud noises and bright colors. She had therefore loved the Fourth of July, especially the fireworks displays. It was ironic that her mutation gave her the ability to shoot plasmoids from her hands, little balls of plasma held together by small magnetic fields. Everything about her, her name, her personality, her likings, her powers, they all spoke of celebration and happiness. And now she was a freaking vampire.

Jubilee breathed in and out. _Happy thoughts, girl, happy thoughts._ She was going back to the Institute with her friends. They and the instructors there would help her out whenever she needed it. They understood what it was like to be different. And she would get to see Bobby again. She smiled at that. She wasn't a prankster like him, but they both knew how to use their powers for fun. They had had some good times, and they would again.

It wasn't until they were well on their way to New York onboard the Blackbird that Jubilee noticed it. Her vision had been getting worse along with her hearing, but she was really noticing it now. Everything was hazy, and she could barely make out her hand in front of her face. The vertigo that swept her brain when she stood nearly sent her to the ground. Her head pounded like a drum, making her wince. She hungered for something and she was afraid of what it was. She could barely make out the Professor and Mr. McCoy looking up at her from the controls. "Professor…" she started to say, but she couldn't finish. She crashed to the jet's floor. She could barely make out their cries of alarm before the darkness claimed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jubilee gets in touch with her vamparic abilities and desires, oh boy. Next chapter, what is causing Jubilee's mysterious illness, and who is now at the Institute?


	5. Awakening and Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was my longest so far in Light within Darkness. What caused Jubilee to collapse, and what's in store for her at the Institue? Find out now in Chapter 5 of X-Men: Light within Darkness!

Chapter 5: Awakening and Meetings

Jubilee slowly opened her eyes and quickly closed them against the glare of a hospital light. She turned her head to the side and tried taking a look. She was in the infirmary at the Xavier Institute. She wasn't wearing a hospital gown thankfully, just her normal clothes. She could hear Mr. McCoy taking notes and muttering to himself in an adjacent room. The last thing she remembered was being on the Blackbird and trying to tell the Professor that something was wrong. _I'm getting tired of this collapsing thing. I take it vampires are prone to passing out?_

She snorted out loud at that thought. The sound brought Mr. McCoy, clad in a white lab coat, to her hospital bed. He was holding a lot of notes in his hands and his face had an expression of both wonder and worry. "Jubilation, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

Jubilee frowned at the use of her name. Honestly, who names their kid "Jubilation?" First, it was long for a first name, and second, who really used that word anymore? She just counted herself lucky that "Jubilation" and "Lee" could combine to make "Jubilee." That was much easier to say.

"I'm fine Mr. McCoy. In fact…." Jubilee sat up and looked around. The vertigo and pounding headache were completely gone. The cold-without-coughing-or-mucus was gone and she felt energized. Heck, she felt like she could run around the equator or take on Magneto and his Acolytes by herself. She held her hand out in front of her and smiled. Her familiar golden tan was back. "I feel great. What did you give me? I don't remember ever feeling this good."

Beast gave her a rather disturbed look. "I determined that you were suffering from a form of extreme blood loss. The medical supplies on board the Blackbird included bags of packed red blood cells. We used up the supply on the Blackbird saving you. You…almost died."

Jubilee stared at him. She had nearly died? _Vampires aren't supposed to die! They're immortal for crying out loud. Unless, they only live forever if they can feed._ She swallowed. "Uh, Mr. McCoy, how exactly did you get the blood into me?"

"We passed it into one of your veins through an IV tube. Why do you-." He stopped and starred at her. "Jubilee, we would not administer human blood, or any other kind of blood for that matter, to you _orally._ " He shivered. "You may be a vampire, but we're not going down that path."

Jubilee exhaled in relief. "I didn't think you would. This whole thing has me shaken up rather badly. Wait, what do you mean 'may be a vampire?' I thought we had established I was one."

Mr. McCoy sighed and held up his notes. "To tell you the truth Jubilee, I have no idea what you are. If you're a vampire, you're the first that any scientist has examined. I, um, took a few samples of your blood, hair, and skin to use for a few experiments."

"A few?" Jubilee stared at the copious amount of notes he held. "How long have I been out?"

"It is eight thirteen in the evening. You were out all day. Everyone's asking about you, especially Mr. Drake." He smiled for a moment and then turned serious again. "We decided not to anyone about your condition just yet."

Jubilee's eyes widened. "Please tell me you didn't say it like that in front of them. You know what that sounds like, right?"

Beast gave her an odd look, and then nearly guffawed with realization. "No, no we didn't. We told them we weren't sure what it was, which is partially true. Vamparicism is completely unknown to science. Don't worry, you won't be getting asked 'what are you going to name it?'"

Jubilee sighed in relief and then lowered her head. "Then again, that might be preferable. Being turned into a vampire is nothing compared to an unexpected pregnancy."

"I think almost every mother the world over would disagree with you there, Jubilation. Labor is no picnic. Then again," Mr. McCoy rubbed a hand along his chin, "I have no idea what vamparic conversion entails. Would you mind enlightening me?"

"Maybe later. It's late and I'd like to say goodnight to everyone before I turn in, if I can even get to sleep."

"Very well. I'll share the results of my tests when you tell the other instructors about your 'condition,'" Mr. McCoy smiled as he gathered up his notes and avoided the death look that Jubilee was giving him. He turned to leave but stopped and turned around. "However, you should consider telling the other students. In my experience, keeping something like this a secret is not a good idea. They'll also accept it more easily if you're the one to tell them."

Jubilee sighed. She had known this would come up eventually. "Thanks Mr. McCoy, but for now, I'm going to wait. This is huge, and I'd like the others to see that I'm still Jubilee."

"Jubilee," sighed Mr. McCoy, "they'll see that anyway. But it's your decision. If anything else happens or changes, please tell us. This situation is…unusual at the very least."

"Don't worry, I'll tell you if anything changes," said Jubilee as she got up. "I'm going to go see the others."

"After you see the others, the Professor wants you to meet with the other instructors in his office. It's important that the rest of the faculty know about this," he informed her. "Also, don't be surprised at a couple of the new faces," he added as she headed for the door.

"Thanks," she replied. It had been months since she had last seen this corridor but she remembered its place within the Institute like the back of her hand. As she passed the entrance to the Danger Room, she inwardly smiled and grimaced at the same time. There were bad, good, and middling memories about that place. The bad memories came from when Mystique had infiltrated the mansion as the Professor and turned the Danger Room into a true torture chamber in an attempt to prepare them for Magneto. Another thing she owed the blue psycho.

The good memories came from those times they had done well in the Room, as well as the jokes they had made at Scott's and Logan's expense before and after a DR session. They were always careful to make sure they weren't overheard by either parties.

The memories that didn't fit in either the good or bad categories were the actual DR sessions themselves. Robots, automatic turrets, tentacles, spinning blades, the occasional super-sized saw, they were all features of the Danger Room, along with the life-like holograms the X-Men usually trained with. The bruises, mainly on their egos, had been memorable. It was satisfying though, to watch their progress as they all had gotten stronger physically and mentally. Her martial arts had suffered because she had started relying solely on her powers. With both the dojo and the Danger Room no longer options for physical exercise, she had finally forced herself to combine the two. Wolverine was going to be ticked when he found out she had been holding out on him.

She reached the elevator and waited for it to come down to the basement. Jubilee studied her reflection in the elevator door while she waited. Her face was severely distorted but she could see that her complexion was back to normal. She remembered how pale she had been just that morning, how terrible she had felt. _And all it took was a few pints of blood to get me back to normal. I wonder how it would have tasted if they had fed me that blood._ _Probably like how it smells, chocolate and cinnamon and iron, oh yum._

The instant that thought popped up in her brain, she smashed it back down. _Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!_ she mentally screamed at herself. _At this rate, I'll be robbing blood banks and sucking the blood out of every cut I come across. Get it together, Jubilation Lee!_

She was so absorbed in her mental scolding that she didn't notice the elevator light blink on. When the doors opened a few inches from her face, she jumped about a foot in the air. Catching her breath, she walked inside and hit the button for the ground floor. As the doors closed and she felt the elevator begin to ascend, Jubilee leaned against the back of the elevator and slumped. _Okay Jubes, you're going to meet with your friends. You're going to tell them you're a vampire soon. They are your friends, they are not going to turn on you. Just don't do anything stupid and everything will turn out all right._ The elevator dinged and opened up onto the ground floor.

Jubilee straightened up and walked out of the chamber. She opened up with her enhanced hearing and soon caught the sound of conversation and laughter coming from the rec room. Judging from the sounds, a game of pool was going on while Arnold Schwarzenegger shot up robots from the future. As Jubilee speed-walked towards the noise, a flurry of memories flowed through her brain. Snow-ball fights, weekend movie nights, board games, mutant ball, girl's slumber parties, they were all precious to Jubilee's memory. Besides her parents, both of whom were only-children, the people here were her family. It had taken a while to get used to some of them, but just interacting with them on a daily basis had soon torn those walls down.

She had pretty much hit it off straight away with Ray, Evan, Tabitha, and Kitty since they were all city-kids. She had been surprised to learn that Kitty was really from Chicago; that Valley-Girl accent had the tendency to throw people off. Bobby, Roberto, and Rahne had taken about a medium amount of time to get used to. The rest had taken a little while longer. Amara had been rather stand-offish at first, while Jamie was pretty young for a mutant. Kurt's appearance was a little unnerving but his friendly demeanor overcame that, and Sam had grown up on a farm, so there was a bit of a culture shock for him. Finally, Jean and Scott were a bit older than the rest, so they also had to be role models and leaders along with being friends.

Jubilee counted them all as friends and family now, though she wasn't sure about Boom-Boom. After the Sentinel Incident, she hadn't heard a thing about the girl, besides the fact she had helped the X-Men fight against Apocalypse. She'd have to ask about her.

She saw the door to the rec room up ahead and hurried her gait. Pausing to look in a mirror to make sure she didn't have a vampire look going on. Taking a breath, she opened the door and peered in.

The rec room was larger than she had remembered. Xavier had probably added some improvements to the mansion's original designs since the Sentinel Incident. Everyone except Scott and Jean were inside. Kitty, Ray, Roberto, and Sam surrounded the pool table while almost everyone else watched the large screen. A big dude that Jubilee didn't know sat off to one side with a sketchbook and pencil in his hands, his face deep in concentration. There were two other new faces as well. A girl that looked Native American watched the pool game with interest while conversing with Kitty, and a pale-skinned boy that looked about Jamie's age sat with him at the couch.

"Jubilee!" Jubilee looked back to the pool table just in time for Kitty to jump her in a bear hug.

"Hey Kitty," grinned Jubilee as she tried to hold back a groan from Kitty's iron-strong embrace. "How's everyone these days?"

"Why don't you ask them?" Kitty replied smiling. At that point, both the movie and the pool game was put on hold as everyone except the big artist, too involved in his work to notice, got up to greet Jubilee. She was bombarded by hugs and questions on every side.

"One at a time guys! I'm a mutant, not Wonder Woman," she called out, laughing.

"How was Los Angeles, Jubes?" called out Bobby, grinning. "It must have been pretty boring without me around."

Jubilee snorted as everyone else joined in ribbing her and Bobby. "It was pretty quiet, and suffocating. Believe me, you do not want to be the only mutant in school."

Sam grimaced. "How bad was it?"

"Think of the 60s and 70s and you're the only black kid in a southern school. Things are just as bad here I'm guessing."

"It is," answered Kurt, frowning. "Especially since Herr Kelly is now the Mayor of Bayville."

"Our old principal?" Jubilee raised her eyebrows. "Let me guess, he really doesn't like us."

"Yep," drawled Rogue. "He made it clear from the start that he didn't like mutants at all. He really gets on ma nerves sometimes. He actually invited the Brotherhood back to school so that they would give us a bad name."

"And now the man is mayor," added Roberto. "At least he hasn't got enough support to kick us out of Bayville. Fighting the biggest threat to humankind since American football helped with that."

"You're just saying that because you're jealous," smirked Jubilee. "The only sport Brazil is good at is soccer."

"Not as violent or complicated."

"Not as fun to watch either."

"What happened to you?" Kitty piped up. "We got, like, everything ready for your arrival and as soon the Blackbird lands, you get rushed to the infirmary. You get mobbed or something in LA?"

Jubilee nearly froze. What was she going to tell them? Then an idea popped into her head. "My powers have been acting up lately. They're stronger, and they take quite a bit out of me." Which was partially true; mutants with energy-based powers burned through a lot more calories than most. It was one of the things that Jubilee liked about them. They allowed her to basically eat whatever she wanted. The exercise helped too.

"Stronger, how?" asked Amara.

"The plasmoids are louder, brighter, and bigger," answered Jubilee. "When I use them as a beam, it's black and red instead of purple and yellow, and the little bursts that come with that range from white to red."

"Sounds like a pretty big change," observed Bobby. "You want to meet our new recruits?"

"Sure thing," Jubilee replied. "It's always good to see new faces around here."

"Jubilee, I'd like you to meet Danielle Moonstar." Kitty gestured to the Native American girl. "Dani, this is Jubilation Lee, though she prefers to be called Jubilee."

"It's good to meet you, Jubilee," Dani said as they shook hands. "I've heard quite a bit about you, mostly good things." She grinned at that last part.

"Nice to meet you too. What are your abilities?" Jubilee responded.

"Hibernation and a form of telepathy that brings up your greatest fears," responded Dani. "A strange combo, I know."

"There's been stranger," said Jubilee, thinking back to her new abilities. "And who's this guy?" She motioned towards the abnormally-pale kid.

"I'm Dorian, Dorian Leitch," the kid said, rather shyly. "And I can shut off electrical appliances and other mutants' powers."

"That's unique," said Jubilee, impressed. The ability to shut off the power and the abilities of other mutants made for a very interesting power. The protective instincts part of her brain said it was a good thing this kid was on their side, though he didn't look like Brotherhood or Acolytes material.

"And this handsome, adorable hunk is Piotr, also known as Colossus, who for some mysterious reason won't tell us his last name," said Kitty, motioning towards the big guy with the sketchbook and grinning flirtatiously. Jubilee had to smile at that. Kitty hadn't changed a bit.

"Sorry, Katya, what was you saying?" Piotr looked up and catching sight of Jubilee, stood up hurriedly. "Sorry, I get distracted while…working. How are you?" He held out a hand.

"Jubilee. Nice to meet you Piotr," she answered grasping his hand and giving it a shake. She studied his face for a moment and then something that Kitty had said clicked. "Wait, aren't you one of Magneto's guys?"

A pained look came over Piotr's face as he withdrew his hand. "Not willingly," he answered quietly.

"Magneto threatened his family when Ruskie here didn't join right away," came a new voice. Jubilee turned to see a well-tanned, blond boy decked out in a full body surfing suit walk through the door, complete with the board. "I'm Alex Summers, by the way. Hawaiian, mutant, President of the 'I-Hate-Magneto' Club and super-surfer, which I could show you all if New England had some half-decent surf."

"Hey!" chorused a dozen voices.

"I'm Jubilee," answered Jubilee, staring for a moment before getting herself back under control. "I thought Magneto wasn't an issue any more."

Alex frowned. "That's mainly because he's an instructor here now."

"What!" Jubilee yelped. "You mean Mr. Mutant Supremacist works here now?"

"He says he was wrong and that he wants to make amends," glowered Piotr. "I am, what is word? Oh yes. Unconvinced."

"He did give the prof his helmet," commented Rogue. "Not that Ah like the man or anything," she added at the looks sent her way.

"I'm going to have to meet with him," sighed Jubilee. "I need to talk to the instructors about my powers."

"Do you have time to finish watching _Terminator 2_ with us?" asked Bobby, rather hopefully, Jubilee noted.

"I think so," she answered, sitting down next to the spot on the couch that Bobby had vacated when she had come in. "Got any popcorn?"

**XMLD-XMLD-XMLD**

"You know," Bobby said as he took the DVD out of the player, "the T-1000 would have stayed frozen longer if Arnold hadn't shot him. Blowing a frozen object up just allows it to thaw faster."

"How's that?" asked Ray, looking up from the pool table.

"Simple. More surface area gets exposed, allowing for the pieces to absorb heat faster," Bobby replied. At Jubilee's quizzical look, he added, "When Scott and Jean had us take a class on how physics interacted with our powers, I was forced to learn a few things about heat transfer and stuff like that. Pretty interesting, actually."

"Sounds like I've got some catching up to do," Jubilee commented.

Bobby shrugged. "Don't worry about it. All you've got to do is to help stop an extinction-level event or a psycho super-mutant to become an X-Man." He was grinning now.

"And those happen, like, once a month now or something," quipped Kitty. "And Bobby, if a girl is on the X-Men, she's an X-Woman."

"Okay, okay, I don't need to hear that talk again," Bobby replied hurriedly.

Piotr walked up to Bobby and regarded the case for _Terminator 2: Judgment Day_ with an arched brow. "Why does the Terminator sound German? If the goal is infiltration, why an accent?"

"Because that's an Austrian accent and the actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is from Austria," called out Alex, who was now dressed in normal clothes. "You've got to be around when he and Kurt start arguing about Russia and Germany. It's hilarious to the max, dudette."

"It is not," protested both Kurt and Piotr at the same time.

That's when the Professor's voice echoed through Jubilee's mind. _Ah, Jubilee. I hope you received a warm welcome._

_It was warm, Professor, very warm._ Jubilee replied back. _Time to talk to the instructors, I take it. Is it true that Magneto is an instructor now?_

Jubilee could hear the Professor mentally sigh. _Yes to both questions. I've already looked through Magneto's mind at his permission and his reasons for joining us are true. He honestly wants to make amends for the things he's done. We're all in my study. We were just waiting for Jean and Scott to come back from their date._

_Be right there, Professor._ Jubilee got up and headed for the door. "Sorry guys, the Prof is calling." She turned around at the door and added in a deep, accented voice: "I'll be back." She could hear laughter following down the hall while Ray and Bobby argued which Terminator was cooler, the T-1000 or the T-X.

The fact that she could still hear them halfway to the Professor's study brought back the cold reality that she was now one of the undead, a real-life vampire. She wondered to herself what everyone's reaction would be. She had already seen the Professor's and Beast's: A horror at her situation combined with the willingness to help her. Would the others be as understanding?

She wasn't about some of them, especially Wolverine. His number one priority from day one had been, quote, "to keep your little kiesters safe until you're ready to keep them safe yourselves," unquote. If he saw her as a threat to the others, he wouldn't hesitate to stop her…or put her down like a rabid dog.

The wild card was Magneto. How would the self-proclaimed "Master of Magnetism" respond to a mutant-vampire hybrid? If Jubilee had to guess, he'd either see her as a stain upon mutantkind, or he would look upon her as something more than even his beloved "homo superior." She honestly wasn't sure which was worse.

She arrived outside the door to the Professor's study and looked at it quietly. _It seems I'm coming across a lot of doors recently where I have no idea what's waiting for me on the other side. Rejection, acceptance, fear, hope. How many times am I going to have to do this? Hopefully, this is the last._ She opened the door and walked inside.

"Jubilee," cried Jean as she engulfed the younger girl in bear hug. "It's great to have you back."

"Great to be back," Jubilee said to Jean's hair. She saw Scott smiling behind Jean. "Hey Sarge. Looking forward to throwing me back into the belly of the beast?" She smirked.

"The Danger Room hungers, I must feed it," Scott smirked right back. He gave Jubilee a quick hug when Jean let go. "Seriously, it's great to have you back, and what this I hear about your powers getting stronger?"

"I'll explain in a minute," Jubilee said quietly.

"Hiya, firecracker. How's LA been?" Jubilee turned to find Wolverine tossing what suspiciously looked like a cigar into the fireplace.

"Hostile with a side of bizarre, 'badger,'" she cheekily answered. She needed to thank Tabitha for coming up with that nickname for Logan. It was way too funny.

Logan gave her a half-hearted scowl as Storm got up. "Jubilee, it'll be good to hear your laughter again," the weather-witch told her. "I hope things didn't get too bad back home."

"Storm, as far as I'm concerned this is my true home. Now if only my parents would leave Los Angeles and live here in Bayville, then it would be perfect."

"Your parents are fine with your mutation, I assume." Jubilee looked over at an easy chair as Magneto stood from it and put down his newspaper. She studied him since it was the first time she had ever seen the man. He didn't look physically imposing. He wore black pants and a green button-down shirt with a tie. What was really noticeable were his hair and his eyes. His hair was a pure white, the same kind of white that Pietro and Storm possessed. His eyes were a cobalt blue, both hard and sorrowful.

She took a good look into them and suddenly felt a twinge of fear. Looking into those eyes, even with the sorrow, you got the idea that this man was powerful, that he could kill you easily if he wanted to. That he had seen terrible things in his life, and that he wasn't afraid of doing terrible things in return. That he had done terrible things himself, and that he was sorry for some of them.

"Yes, yes they are, Magneto," she said slowly.

"My original name is Max Magnus Eisenhardt, Miss Lee. Magnus or Mr. Eisenhardt will suffice." He resumed his seat as the Professor cleared his throat.

"Hank will be up here shortly with his findings on Jubilee. Everyone, take a seat if you please." Jubilee chose to sit on end of the sofa along with Jean, Scott, and Storm. Wolverine leaned against the wall across from Magneto, or Mr. Eisenhardt, warily eyeing the man. He obviously distrusted the man, which wasn't surprising considering their past and Eisenhardt's powers. Jubilee wondered if Logan was also a member of Alex's "I-Hate-Magneto" club.

Hank, without the lab coat this time, opened the door with several sheets of paper in his hands. "I've compiled my notes and findings. This is…one of the more interesting, and at the same time, bizarre cases of genetic change that I've ever come across. Jubilation, it would be best if you told everyone what happened."

Jubilee sat up straighter and faced everyone. "Last Thursday, I was held up by detention for an hour and I decided to take a shortcut through some old warehouses. While I was going through one, someone closed all the doors and windows, keeping me from getting out and blocking all the light. It was a bunch of gangbangers, six of them. At first I thought they were mutants; they were stronger, faster, and tougher than normal people. They also had fangs and red eyes."

"All of them?" interrupted Scott.

"Yes, all of them. The worst part was when I was forced to use my powers on them. They…they disintegrated into ash."

"What?" said Wolverine, staring at her. "You mean your firecrackers can kill people now kid?"

"They're called plasmoids, Logan," stated Mr. McCoy. "And yes, they can kill a certain type of human."

Everyone but Xavier gave him a strange look as Jubilee continued. "The girlfriend of their leader, or girlfiend as I like to call her, managed to bite me before I fried her. I was out for a little while before my Dad found me. I also collapsed after I did my homework that night, and I didn't wake up until early the next morning. The bite mark had healed somehow. It wasn't until after lunch that it happened."

"What did?" asked Storm.

"This," Jubilee answered quietly. She stood up and collected her thoughts. She concentrated on her new abilities, felt her teeth lengthen, her senses increase a hundredfold, and then opened her red eyes. She could see the stunned expressions on Jean's, Scott's, and Logan's faces. Both Storm and Magneto gave her a similar look, a mixture of shock, and somehow, recognition. Their expressions only increased when Jubilee opened her mouth, revealing her razor-sharp choppers. "Everyone at school thought it was my mutant powers, but it isn't. I'm a vampire."

"That…that's not possible," stuttered Scott, staring.

"I'm afraid it is, Scott," the Professor intoned sadly. "I've looked through Jubilee's memories. It happened that way, and she's also drawn by the scent of blood."

"In addition, she collapsed from a form of extreme blood loss on the way back. We used up all the packed red blood cells saving her." Beast added his two cents.

Jubilee took stock of everyone's expressions. Jean continued to look stunned, while Scott and Logan now wore expressions of shock and concern. Storm looked like she actually might start crying, while Magneto…. Jubilee couldn't help but shudder at his gaze. There was a dangerous glint in it that said: "I'm perfectly willing to kill you if need be."

"I've conducted extensive tests on DNA samples from Jubilee," Beast continued as he consulted his notes. "It's not a single gene that's been affected. It's her entire genetic code, including her X-gene. She's developed a healing factor just like Wolverine's. Her powers have significantly increased, along with her strength, speed, and stamina. I'm assuming that her senses have gotten stronger as well."

When Jubilee nodded in confirmation, Magneto narrowed his eyes. "What about vamparic weaknesses?"

"Sunlight, garlic, and silver don't hurt me. Neither do crosses." Jubilee returned his gaze as best as she could.

"Please tell me we can cure this," breathed Storm.

"At this point, I have no idea," Mr. McCoy admitted. "A little time and research, and I might be able to come up with something. In the meantime, Logan just got a lot more useful."

"How?" the man in question growled.

"Jubilee's body now burns plasma at an exponential rate, which might only increase when she uses her powers. We're going to need a lot of packed blood for her, and you can replace your blood supply much better than we can. Either that or we start robbing blood banks or sacrificing people." The last bit was meant as a joke, but it fell flat, and hard. He hurriedly continued.

"I also located some enzymes that stick completely to Jubilee's teeth. I scraped some off and exposed some experiment cell groups to them. The human cells and the mutant cells were altered by them, while the group that came from Logan were immune to them. So if she ever needs blood and there are no blood bags nearby…."

"Are you insane?" yelled Magneto, leaping from his chair. "You are asking Logan to let her feed off of him like a leech? That will only give her a taste for blood and put his life at risk! What if his cells didn't turn because they weren't connected to his body? If he becomes one of the _succo_ , there will be no stopping him!"

"Magnus, calm down. We will do our best to avoid that. Hank knows what he's talking about," said the Professor, looking at Magneto hard.

Magneto looked at Xavier hard for a moment. "No, no he doesn't. He doesn't know a thing about _Homo sapien succo_ ," he said quietly as he took his seat again.

"And you do?" countered Mr. McCoy.

"Yes doctor, I do. And so does Ms. Monroe here." Storm looked uncomfortable.

"Jubilee," the Professor addressed her, "we will help you get through this. If there's a cure, we will use it. If not, we will help you all the same. If you need anything or something new happens, please let us know. You can join the others if you want."

"Yes, Professor," Jubilee replied as she powered down her vamparicism. As she turned towards the doors, Scott piped up.

"Jubes, would you mind doing a private session in the Danger Room tomorrow? I'd like to see how your powers have changed."

"Sure thing, Scott, sure thing," she answered quietly.

"Oh, and kid?" Logan called out as she opened the double doors. "If you need to bite me, please the wrist. I don't like the idea of you suckin' on my neck."

She gave him a disgusted look. "Like I'd want to do that," she muttered as she closed the doors. She could still hear them talking as she walking down the hall, though she refrained from using her "vamp" hearing.

_Well, that could've gone better. It also could have been worse_ she thought to herself as she headed back to the rec room. The one thing she had not imagined happening were those looks of recognition that Storm and Magneto had given her. Those two had encountered vampires before? How? When? More importantly, how much did they fear vampires?

Jubilee moaned. She was starting to get a headache from all this. When she got back to the rec room, she listened to the sound of Bobby setting up a video game and decided that she'd rather stew in her room right now. "Hey guys," she called into the now less-crowded room, "I think I'll just turn in for the night. Today was pretty crazy."

"Alright, good night," called out Kitty. After answering the following chorus of "good nights," Jubilee went to her assigned room, where she would be the sole occupant until another girl came to the Institute.

She collapsed on the bed and groaned aloud. The past three days could rank with the Sentinel Incident in terms of sudden and unpleasant change. At least she wasn't running scared from the cops through the woods and the sewers after nearly getting blown up. At least she was back at the Institute. Surely, Mr. McCoy could figure out a cure for all of this. She turned towards her bags, which had been brought to the room beforehand. Since she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, she could at least unpack her stuff.

An hour later, she changed into her pajamas and sat down. Everything that belonged to her was now unpacked and in its place. She especially liked that each bedroom had its own bathroom. No more super-long lines in the morning. As she took out one of her books and started to read, she thought she heard something. Listening hard, she could barely make it out. Turning to her vamparic side, she nearly jumped when met with the cacophony of metallic clanks and groans. It was coming from a room on the other side of the mansion, and she had a pretty good idea whose room it was too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Magneto is not a member of Team Edward. Then again, he wouldn't be a fan of Team Jacob either. I hope I did a good job representing the other characters. I'm not used to writing with that big of a cast. Tell me what you thought of my representations of them in a comment. I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Light within Darkness. Happy reading and writing everyone.


	6. Danger in the Danger Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there everyone! I'm glad for all your support and reviews. In case anyone's wondering, one of the Latin words for "vampire" is succo. There were a couple of others, but I liked this one the most. How do Magneto and Storm know about the existence of vampires? You'll here in a couple of chapters. Without further to do, here's the 6th chapter to X-Men: Light within Darkness!

Chapter 6: Danger in the Danger Room

It was a few hours before Jubilee was able to go to sleep. This was thanks to the jet lag from traveling across the US, from the long nap she had taken, and from the metallic sounds that she could pick across the mansion. There were other noises too but those were the most prominent. The metallic creaks and groans could only have been Magneto's doing. What was he up to? The sounds hadn't stopped until about 40 minutes after midnight. She had managed to fall asleep about an hour later.

_He's probably trying to figure out a way to magnetize silver. Not that it'll do him any good_ Jubilee thought as she sleepily opened her eyes and looked briefly at the clock. 5:32. _I don't think silver can be magnetized, can it?_ She closed her eyes again and started to float back to dreamland. _If they're going to let me sleep in, I'm not going to complain…._

**BAM BAM BAM.** "Hey firecracker, up and at them! I want you in the Danger Room in five minutes," Wolverine's voice called through the door.

Jubilee jumped straight up and stared at the clock. It had changed from 5:32 to 6:27 in an instant. The others would be done with their Danger Room session by now and Scott had wanted to see her powers in action. "Just a sec," she answered. "Let me get dressed first." She stumbled to her wardrobe and started fumbling for the uniform she had found in it last night.

"Hurry then," he growled. She could hear him walking down the hall to the elevator. Speaking of hearing, she concentrated on her vamparic abilities and felt the now familiar heightening of her senses. At least she didn't need blood, for now. The last thing she needed was for her to collapse in front of everyone from blood loss. Pretty hard to explain blood loss without a single cut.

She finally found what she was looking for behind a blue t-shirt. The basic costume, the New Mutant uniform. A black bodysuit with yellow gloves, yellow boots, a yellow belt, and two red shoulderguards with a black "X" on each one. She never told anyone, but she had always liked the suits due to the yellow decals on them. A sense of nostalgia came over her as she held it up. Painful times yes, but she had been with her friends then. And she was back now.

She hurriedly yanked her PJs off and got the suit on. A quick gargle of water later and she was hurrying down the hall towards the elevator. Wolverine grunted a good morning and tapped the button as she came up to him. "Good hustle," he said simply.

"Thanks," she answered. The doors opened and they walked inside. Wolverine tapped the button for the Danger Room floor and the elevator began its descent. "So, how'd the others' DR session go?" she ventured.

"They did alright. They're hitting the showers right now. I told them to hurry if they wanted to see you in action."

She was going to have a much bigger audience. Fantastic. "Who's all going to be there?"

"Everyone except for those still in the showers and Jean. She goes to Empire State University now and she actually deserves to sleep in these days."

"Jean's going to college now and she's still staying at the Institute. Why doesn't she just stay on campus?" Jubilee asked. The elevator stopped short and its doors opened.

"Because it's hard for her to get a roommate since she's a mutant, and she and Scott are dating now," Wolverine answered as they walked into the hall and towards the Danger Room. "No incentive to stay there with the racist…jerks, and plenty of incentive to stay here." They stopped in front of the doors for the entry point of the Danger Room. "I'd get stretching if I were you. Shades intends to push you."

"Oh joy," Jubilee muttered as she walked inside the entry point and the doors closed behind her. She started going through the stretches she had learned from her martial arts teacher and from Logan. She had always been pretty limber and that had translated well into gymnastics and martial arts. She doubted that Logan would be happy that she had been holding out on him with those.

"You ready Jubes?" came Scott's voice over the PA system. "We'll start slow and advance it depending on how well you do."

Jubilee felt several of the vertebrae in her back pop as she stood to her feet and faced the door. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists in concentration, willing her vamparic side to her. She could now smell the oil and metal of the machines on the other side of the door. She could hear everyone breathing up in the control room. She could see the tiny indentations in the metal doors and walls. The increase of strength and stamina made itself known and Jubilee opened her eyes. "Ready," she breathed.

The doors opened and Jubilee vaulted out in a jump. She landed in a crouch and looked up into the optics of a drone. It was a square thing with four legs, a "head" with optical sensors, and what looked like a huge taser coming out of its back. If a robot could look surprised, this one would have. It hadn't expected her to leap out like that, and the hesitation while it recomputed the situation was all Jubilee needed.

She brought a hand up and shot a plasmoid right into its optics. They exploded and the robot was left blind. The plasmoid and the explosion of sparks nearly blinded Jubilee with her improved vision. It fired its taser at her hoping for a lucky shot. She dodged at the last second and slid right underneath its chassis. She blasted a hole in the machine and reached in. Finding a wire she yanked it out, and got out from under the drone as it fell down.

Righting herself, Jubilee watched as a turret popped out from the wall and turned its four barrels onto her. She started moving as it began shooting paint balls at her Gatling-style. She cartwheeled just ahead of the balls, waiting for the turret to run out of ammo. A few moments later, the balls ceased and a series of clicks filled the air. Stopping, Jubilee shot a plasmoid beam at the turret, blowing its barrels and a nice-sized chunk of its armor off.

At that point, someone in the control room decided to unleash the Danger Room's worst weapons one after the other. Jubilee found herself facing off against more drones, turrets, tentacles, spinning blades, and traps than she'd ever had in any previous DR sessions. She also fought and moved unlike she ever had in the Danger Room. Her martial arts, her gymnastics, her mutant abilities, and her vamparicism all flowed together into a fighting style that was entirely her own. Her senses picked threats that were all around her, her gymnastics and speed allowed her to escape them, and her newfound strength and enhanced powers allowed her to crush them as soon as she got the chance. Any wounds that were inflicted on her despite her dodging healed in a matter of seconds. For the first time in her life, she felt unstoppable. Invincible. Indestructible.

A hovering pod appeared out of a hatch in the wall and four tentacles shot out of it at her. She flipped backwards the first time they tried to snatch her. They came at her again and this time she ran between them and leapt off them towards the pod. She readied herself for a high kick but sensed the tentacles coming around to grab her. An idea popped into her mind right then. She stopped three yards short of the pod and kicked out with everything she had. She focused her powers through her right leg, something she had never tried before. She watched as a huge plasmoid shot right out of her foot and right into the pod. Its innards exited out through its back and it crashed to the ground. Jubilee balanced perfectly with one leg in the air, the tentacles sprawled all around her. She slowly set her leg down and smirked at the control room. _That all you got?_

Another hatch slid open and her eyes widened. She had faced these things the last time she had been in the Danger Room, when Mystique had been posing as the Professor. They were hovering, rotating drones with paint-ball guns pointing out the sides, three of them like last time. They all opened fire at once and she began moving again. She could barely keep up with the things as they tried to box her in, shooting all the while. She couldn't count how many times she was centimeters from being hit.

Finally, she was boxed in. The drones maneuvered themselves so that she would be pelted by their projectiles. There was nowhere to run or jump to. That's when something completely random ran through Jubilee's head: _For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction._ She aimed herself at the middle drone and focused her powers through both her legs as they began firing. It was an inspiring sight; dozens of orange paint balls zipping right by her as she rocketed toward the drones, supported by a beam of red and black plasmic energy. She drew back her right fist, powered it up with a plasmoid, and then drilled the middle drone. Between the enhanced plasmoid and her vamparic strength, the drone didn't stand a chance. As the drone started to fall to the ground in pieces, she twisted herself around and fired two beams at the heads of the remaining drones, propelling herself even further.

The smoking pieces of the drones crashed to the ground in a ruinous heap of metal, wires, and orange paint. Jubilee landed and flipped herself into a fighting position, ready to take on whatever was next. For a moment, everything was still besides Jubilee's labored breathing, and then applause broke out over the PA.

"Jubes, that was incredible!" yelled Bobby's voice. "Since when could you fly?"

"Since now," croaked Jubilee. The vertigo and fatigue appeared again, stronger this time. Her legs weakened and she fell to her knees. She yanked her right glove off her hand and actually watched the color drain away. "Mr. McCoy," she called out, "I don't feel so hot. My powers…."

"Logan, go help Jubilee to the Infirmary," said Beast's voice. "I'll go prep the…serum. Jubilee, stay where you are."

"No problem," she grunted. She had no problem with staying still at the moment. Just the movement from breathing was giving her a headache. _This is just perfect. It's bad enough that I get bitten by a vampire, but now I can't use my powers without nearly tossing my lunch and my brains. I hope Beast can mix up that cure soon._ She had to stop thinking when Logan helped her to her feet; the motions seemed to jar her brain up against her skull.

"Firecracker, close your eyes. You got the vamp thing going," he whispered. She shut her eyes hurriedly. The lights were making her squint now anyway. Her nose and her ears were working just fine at the moment though. She could hear and feel Wolverine's heartbeat through his arm. As they exited the Danger Room, Jubilee could hear and smell the small crowd waiting outside. Her ears automatically zeroed in on their heartbeats, her nose could detect the breath from their mouths and what little sweat remained from the showers. She could tell that one of them, Ray she realized, had had a bloody nose earlier. _Attack, kill, feed._ Her body tensed as she fought back the impulse to jump him and tear him open. Using her powers only drained her blood reserves faster, increasing her bloodlust. She needed to get to the blood in the Infirmary, now.

"Jubilee," asked Kitty, worried, "what's wrong? Your powers drain you this much?" Her voice echoed in Jubilee's head, making her groan. _Shut her up. What, no!_ Logan seemed to notice her inner turmoil because of his tone when he spoke.

"Half-Pint, her head's killin' her right now. You kids can talk at breakfast. And before you ask, Hank's come up with a serum that helps Jubes here deal with the power drainage."

"I'll catch up to you guys in a moment," groaned Jubilee as she was helped down the hall. The voices and heartbeats of the others faded away to the background as they headed to the elevators. Jubilee opened her eyes to a squint and sighed in relief. "Thanks," she whispered to Logan.

"Don't thank me kid. This lying thing is just going to bite you in the rear end sooner or later," he growled, then continued. "I noticed you tense up back there when we got out of the room and when Half-Pint spoke. You need to tell me something?"

Jubilee paused, than sighed. There was really no point in lying to Logan; the man's real mutant power must be lie-detecting. "When I got out of the room, I smelled blood, Ray's blood. It was all I could do to not jump him and start feeding. Then when Kitty started talking, her voice really hurt my head, and I got this urge to just shut her up, in the worst possible way." Silence. "Mr. Logan, I don't want to have these urges. I hate myself for them."

"Kid, stop right there." Wolverine's tone was enough to make Jubilee. He sighed, "When I first came to the Institute, I was a mess. I had no memory of who I was, I had metal claws, and I felt like killing everything that got too close to me. I charged Scott and Jean when they came upon me. All I felt was this urge to maim, to kill. Chuck brainblasted me before I could hurt them."

Jubilee was silent, thinking over what Logan had told her. It did make sense that he could identify with her; he was a bestial-type mutant. "Does it ever go away, that urge?" she asked quietly.

"No, not really. It gets smaller and easier to control until you can't feel it at all. Then something happens and it comes back with a vengeance. The best thing is to hold back until you come across the real enemy, something that you need to use that urge on."

They came up to the infirmary and entered. Beast was there, ready with an IV stand complete with a bag of blood. There were several more nearby, ready for use. Jubilee felt her gaze drawn to the red fluid, the organic chemical compound that helped make life on earth possible, the liquid she desperately needed to survive. If only she didn't find the stuff so…appealing and desirable, this whole thing wouldn't be half as bad.

"This will only hurt a little, Jubilee," Beast soothed as she sat on the hospital bed. "We did this yesterday, you just weren't awake for it." Jubilee nodded. It didn't really matter if it hurt or not. She had a new healing factor after all. "Interesting thing that happens to the blood your body ingests," Mr. McCoy continued. "Not only are all the diseases and bacteria in the blood killed by your stronger immune system, but the new blood's type is converted to your blood type. That's incredible."

Jubilee raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, that's impressive." From a scientific point of view, if you included the fact that vampires were real, vamparicism was quite amazing. Beast would be having kittens about the new-found discoveries, if only it didn't come at the cost of her own humanity. Jubilee hardly felt the needle pierce her skin, but she did feel the new blood enter her system, revitalizing her. The closest she could come to describing the sensation was taking a cold shower following a grueling workout. One of the simple, yet heavenly, things.

She glanced over at Logan, who was watching the proceedings over by the door. She smiled to herself. Here, she was going to get the help and support she was going to need. The Professor had a calming effect on others, and Hank had the know-all when it came to all things science-related, but neither had a true inkling of what she was going through like Logan did. Only he knew what it was like to have a killer's instincts, to be intrigued by the idea of bloodshed, and he was there for her. _I'm in good hands, and that's what truly matters._

**XMLD-XMLD-XMLD**

About 20 minutes later, Jubilee got out of the showers and headed towards the elevator. The blood had done wonders. She felt just like she had when she had awoken the day before. Recharged and energized. The smell of breakfast wafting down from the dining room only spurred her on towards the elevator. _Scrambled eggs, hash browns, toast, bacon, and pancakes._ There were times when vamparic senses were a blessing.

Jubilee stopped short when she came in sight of the elevator. There leaning against the wall next to the buttons was Bobby. He was wearing a suit that looked quite a lot like Scott's. The only differences were that all the parts of Scott's suit that were yellow were a light blue on Bobby's. She had to admit, it looked pretty good on him.

"Hey Jubes," he called out when he saw her. "What do you think of the suit? Only the best for an X-Man."

"It looks good on you. The blue is very fitting," responded Jubilee. "So they put you on the X-Men, nice. What about everyone else? They helped against Apocalypse too."

"The others have formed their own team, X-Force," Bobby answered. "It's a pretty good team. Not as good as the X-Men mind you, but they're good. Colossus is on the X-Men, while Dorian and Dani are on X-Force. They're just not supposed to go on missions, yet."

"Where's that place me then?" Jubilee asked as she hit the up button.

"After that show in the Danger Room, I'd say you've become X-Men material. Unless you want to become X-Force's big gun," joked Bobby.

The ding signaling the elevator's arrival sounded and they stepped in. "Who do you think I should go with?" asked Jubilee. "Most of our friends are on X-Force, but the X-Men…that's quite the feather in my cap." She tapped the button for the main floor.

"Try a headdress," smirked Bobby. "Wait, scratch that. A 'feather in my headdress' would be Dani's thing." Jubilee lightly smacked Bobby. It was good to hear his jokes again. They'd always tickled her funny bone.

"You going to wear that thing to breakfast?" Jubilee raised an eyebrow at his suit.

Bobby shrugged. "Tempting, but no. Logan thinks my head is big enough as it is. I'll stop by my room first." The doors opened onto the main floor. "After you."

"Thanks," Jubilee smiled as she walked out of the 'vator first. Nice to see that Bobby had developed some manners in her absence. She took another look at him as he started down the hall towards his room. _That suit does look good on him._

She shook those thoughts off and got a good whiff of breakfast. _Thank goodness my diet isn't restricted to just blood now. That would be so unfair._ She hurried to the kitchen and looked in. Thankfully, most of the pre-breakfast chaos had settled down and everyone was tucking in at the table. Jubilee grabbed a plate and a bit of everything and sat down next to Amara.

"Jubilee, that was, like, one of the most incredible fights I've ever seen," crowed Kitty. With that, the table burst in a cacophony of compliments and exclamations. Jubilee didn't have time to respond to someone before someone else started. What finally interrupted the mini-celebration was Logan.

"What I want to know," he called out, "was where you pulled out four different martial art styles, namely karate, kung fu, taekwondo, and drunken boxing." He raised an eyebrow in Jubilee's direction.

Jubilee coughed, than explained. "I was taking martial arts before my mutation manifested. When I came here, I basically…slacked off. After I was taken home, I practiced them on my own along with my gymnastics. There are a lot of old warehouses in LA to practice in."

"If you hadn't done half as well as you did, kid, I would have you waxing the X-Jet and Velocity for two weeks," growled Logan. Then he smiled. "Chuck, how about we have firecracker here continue her martial arts instruction, under my supervision."

The Professor looked up from his newspaper. "Sounds fair to me. Maybe you should consider holding practices for the martial arts for anyone who's interested Logan. They do teach discipline, along with other things."

_Traitor._ Jubilee directed the thought towards the Professor as Scott started talking enthusiastically with Logan about including more of the martial arts in their physical curriculum while everyone else gave her dirty looks. He just gave her a half smile and took a drink of his coffee before continuing.

"On an unrelated topic, someone will be dropping by in time for lunch, someone you'll be glad to meet."

"Who is it, Professor?" piped up Bobby as he entered the room in civilian clothes and helped himself to some bacon.

"Consider it…a surprise of sorts." He went back to his newspaper.

The rest of the morning was spent getting her class schedule and figuring out which books she needed. The Institute kept track which curriculum Bayville High used, which made that much easier. Jubilee didn't have much to catch up on, which was also a plus. She had had nothing to do back in LA besides practicing the martial arts and gymnastics, leaving her plenty of time to work on school. It definitely showed in her grades. The Professor did make it clear that he expected that to continue.

11: 30 found Jubilee lying under a tree waiting for lunch. She wondered who their mystery visitor was as she relaxed and her eyes closed. _Maybe it's Forge. Nah, he nearly kills Kurt every time those two get close to each other. Perhaps it's that cute Angel guy. Talk about falling from heaven._ Practically every girl at the Institute would have given up their cell phone for a date with him. _Or it's someone entirely new. I hear that the Prof has some friend in Scotland. Moira McTaggart? Something like that. I wonder if she and Rahne know each other._

If she hadn't been nearly asleep, she would have heard the gates opening and a car coming up the driveway. As it was, she didn't notice anything until an odd scent, strange yet familiar, crept into her nostrils accompanying a light pair of footsteps. Her eyes shot open and a kip-up brought her to her feet, ready to fight.

"Wat's this, lass? Taking ninja lessons in the City of Angels?"

"Rahne!" Jubilee shot forward to envelop the Scottish mutant in a hug. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in Scotland."

"I was, about 7 hours ago. Moira decided that I could come back to the Institute. She's over being mad at the Professor," Rahne explained.

"I didn't know that Dr. McTaggart was your guardian," blurted out Jubilee.

"She is, and her name is _MacTaggert._ You wouldn't believe how many times someone has gotten her name wrong. It really gets her shorts in a knot."

"Don't you mean 'her knickers in a twist?'" grinned Jubilee.

"No, she doesn't," came a new voice. Jubilee turned to see a tall, brown-haired woman walking towards them. "I may be a British subject, but I'm Scottish to the bone. Brits and Scotts are as different as Yanks and Rebs."

"I'll take your word on it." Jubilee offered her a hand. "I'm Jubilation Lee, but I prefer Jubilee."

The woman took it. "Dr. Moira MacTaggert, at your service. Rahne here spoke about you a fair way."

At Jubilee's odd look, Rahne explained. "I talked about you quite a bit, lassie. Let's go find the Prof. The others will be wanting to see me too, I wager."

Everyone was just as happy to see Rahne as they had been to see Jubilee, Roberto especially. Dr. MacTaggert and the Professor talked until the doctor was almost late to her flight back to Scotland. The only thing that really bugged Jubilee were their reactions to Magneto's presence. They were both disturbed, especially MacTaggert. She seemed pretty peeved at Xavier for allowing him to work as an instructor there, and Jubilee noticed her whispering some things to Rahne and glancing in Magneto's direction before she left.

Jubilee had never met the man personally, but everything she had heard about him deviated from this move of his to work at the Institute. It belied everything philosophical belief he held against Xavier's dream of human/mutant cooperation. Jubilee decided it was time she looked into this, from the source.

**XMLD-XMLD-XMLD**

Jubilee walked down the hall towards the office that Magneto had taken up when he had arrived. It was an hour after dinner, and Jubilee had learned from the others that he usually retreated to the study after dinner to…do whatever a former mutant supremacist does before retiring for the day.

At her core, Jubilee was curious; what had happened to Magneto that he had hated humans so much, and what had caused such a rapid turnaround? She figured that if he tried to stake her, she could just outrun him until the Professor or Wolverine dealt with Buckethead. Besides, how would someone with magnetic powers take out someone with vamparic powers?

Instead of waiting, Jubilee just walked up to the study doors and knocked. A moment passed, then: "Come in." Jubilee walked into the office but kept the doors opened in case she needed a quick getaway. Magneto was sitting in the exact same chair from last night, reading a book this time. What did he do in his spare time before he joined the Institute faculty? Read books on philosophy and ethics, or stick a doll-version of the Professor with pins? The image from that last thought nearly made her laugh. Instead she readied herself. "Ms. Lee, how may I help you?" he said stiffly.

She looked him direct in the eye and started. "Mr….Eisenhardt, I was just wondering…why did you hate humans so much, and why have you decided to work with the Professor instead of against him?" Part of her wasn't really expecting an answer, so she was a bit surprised when he eventually did.

"Ms. Lee, take a seat. This might take some time to explain properly." She sat down on the couch again and faced the man. He gave her a searching look, like he was trying to divine her very soul, then he started.

"I was born in Poland, to a Jewish family, just in time to witness World War II and the Holocaust when I was around your age. I've used genetic enhancements to give myself long life, which is why I'm currently in my physical prime."

Jubilee gaped at him. "I always figured something must have happened to you," she said slowly. "But I never imagined…."

He simply nodded. "I was there at Auschwitz with Mengele and all the other horrors of that place. I witnessed the murders, the genocide, of thousands of innocent men, women, and children. I watched my mother die, and I never saw my father after we were separated at the gate. Every night since then I've sworn to myself, never again. Never again would I let such a monstrous atrocity happen again to anyone.

"After the war was ended and the camps were exposed, I contented myself with hunting down what Nazis I could and killing them when needed. Intrigued by my powers, I pursued the sciences, mainly genetics, hoping to understand whatever it was that fueled my abilities. About 20 years ago, two significant events occurred in my life: I met another mutant, Professor Charles Xavier, and I got married. I was thrilled to learn that I wasn't alone as the only 'freak' in the world. Charles and I became fast friends. I remember one night we didn't stop talking until my wife, Magda, came downstairs in the morning thoroughly annoyed with me." He smiled a sad, small smile, than continued.

"A part of me became wary of the mainstream human race, remembering as I did the atrocities that the Nazis committed against those that they deemed 'unworthy.' It wasn't until a little later that I truly hated the human race. My wife and I had a little girl, Anya, before Pietro and Wanda came along. One day when Anya was about 5, we took her to a doctor. She had developed a strange sickness, and we were worried. We were expecting again, and Anya's sickness was a mystery. While my wife and I were in the waiting room, I heard my daughter scream. I ran into the office just in time to witness the doctor slash her throat with a scalpel, screaming all the time that he knew all about Xavier and me and that he wasn't going to let us 'freaks' pollute the human race. Magda arrived just in time to see me put every scrap of metal I could find into the man's heart and brain.

"The shock of seeing her dead daughter on the floor, of seeing me kill her murderer, it was too much for her. The shock sent her into premature labor. Pietro and Wanda barely survived, and she didn't. With her dying breath, she made me swear to protect them against a world that would hate and revile them for what they were, a world that killed Anya because of me.

"It was then that Xavier and I had our famous falling out. I had come to believe that the human race would do their worst when they discovered our existence. We both agreed that the new generation of mutants needed to be educated in the use of their powers. We just disagreed on what they should be taught. I believed that our powers should be used to bring the human race to its knees before they could destroy us; Xavier, that we should show the humans that we were friends and brothers to them. I dismissed his ideas as naïve, and used the stockpiles of Nazi gold that I had acquired over the years to fund my mutant supremacist projects."

Jubilee couldn't help but stare at him. She had imagined that something terrible had happened to him, but she hadn't expected this. To see the absolute worst of human nature, and then to lose your child to a hate-filled maniac, she could see now why he had gone down his road. She couldn't really come up with anything to say.

"To answer your second question," Magneto continued, "it was when I was under the control of Apocalypse that I saw just what I had become. As he controlled me and the others, I looked into his mind. I looked into the abyss, and I realized that the abyss was looking back into _me_. I saw just how like him I was. I saw that if I possessed the power and technology that he did, I would be doing the exact same things that he was doing. For the first time, I saw how Charles viewed me: A monster for whom the ends justified the means. I had gone out to fight him, rationalizing that Apocalypse's continued existence was a threat to mutantkind, when the true reason was that he was a threat to my power, to my ambition to rule.

"After he was stopped and I was released from his control, I knew that I had to abandon the road that I had been traveling on, that I needed to change. I asked to join the Institute's faculty, almost causing the entire student body to leave before Charles was able to reason with them. Even now, they still distrust me, and I don't blame them. Even with my reasons, the things I've done to some of them are absolutely unforgiveable. I revealed to Kurt that I had enhanced his X-gene when he was a baby, giving him his appearance. I even told my daughter the truth; in order to have her forget what I had done to her when she was a child, I had a powerful telepath cover up her true memories with fake ones, painting me as a more ideal father. When Xavier removed the illusions at my request, she almost killed me in anger. She would have if Xavier hadn't pointed out that I had asked him to remove the lies. She's currently living with the Brotherhood, stewing in her rage against me. Her mother would be so disappointed in me."

Jubilee could have sworn she saw his eyes become misty, but that idea soon faded. He looked her in the eye and said very quietly, "I hope that answers your questions, Ms. Lee. Have a good night."

Jubilee got up and left the room silently. Her mind raced with what the Master of Magnetism had told her as she started back to her friends. On one hand, she could understand his reasoning. Anyone that survived the Holocaust and watched their loved ones die in front of them would find an idealist's hope in human nature to be naïve, even idiotic. On the other, the lengths he had gone to in order to protect his people, the monster he had become and had been becoming when Apocalypse had turned him into his little puppet, those things were completely unjustifiable. Jubilee had never thought a single person could be so complicated, be so much in a grey area.

Jubilee sighed as she finally found her friends with her hearing. She needed to relax. She was stressed enough with the fact that tomorrow she was going back to Bayville High. She wasn't looking forward to it at all. Everything that had been perpetrated against her in LA would be there too. However, the others had told her that there were a few normal teens that were friendly, and she would have both her old friends and her new ones at her side this time. She wasn't alone, not anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there's the return of Rahne to the Institute and why Magneto now works there. I figured that if Magneto was going to join the Institute, he would do so soon after Apocalypse's defeat. If being controlled by a near-omnipotent psychopath doesn't straighten you up, nothing will. Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined. If you have any ideas for my fic, leave them in the comment.


	7. Bayville High

Chapter 7: Bayville High

"So, what's new at Bayville High?"

Jubilee was riding in Scott's car along with him, Kitty, and Bobby. Scott was driving them to school since he didn't have anything better to do. Unlike Jean, Scott didn't go to college; he instead worked as a full-time instructor at the Institute. Besides Scott, Logan and Storm also drove the kids to school on a normal basis.

It was Jubilee's first day at Bayville High School since the Sentinel Incident and she felt pretty much the same way she had before the Professor had come to her house, just without the sickness from blood loss. She knew it would likely be the same as it had been at her old school. There would be the bigoted bullies, the mostly unsympathetic faculty, and those few who protested silently against the unfair treatment of their fellow students. This time though, she wasn't alone. She had her friends, her true friends, alongside her. It would still be hard, but she wouldn't have to rely on just herself anymore. Her parents were there for her, but they couldn't understand what it was truly like to be the only known mutant in a prejudice and hate-filled environment like that.

"Well, we've got a new principal for a start," answered Bobby. "Donald Hampton. He doesn't care for mutants either, but he doesn't go out of his way to make our lives miserable. He just wants there to be no trouble."

"I think he's honestly scared of us," added Kitty. "He, like, stutters whenever we come close. It's really annoying."

"Paul and Taryn have started speaking to me and Jean again," Scott said simply. "They're mostly upset that we kept it all a secret from them. The idea that Jean was able to read minds was what drove Taryn away. It's a start at least."

"Also, you remember that one guy from my computer class, Arcade, the one who hacked Cerebro during that party we threw?" asked Kitty. At Jubilee's nod, she continued, "Well, it turns out he doesn't hate us. He understands what it's like to be different from the rest."

"He's also good if you're having issues with your computer," added Bobby. "Too bad Paul and Taryn graduated with you and Jean. We need all the friends we can get."

Four people, including Kurt's girlfriend, that didn't hate them, and only two of them still went to high school. Maybe she should start a support group or a Facebook page for those humans that didn't hate mutants, give those afraid to speak out a way to voice their opinions and communicate. That would be a great start against the Friends of Humanity, the human supremacist and hate group that had sprung out of the aftermath of Apocalypse's attempted global conversion. She should probably run that idea by the Professor to see what he thought.

"We're here," Scott announced as he stopped by the school's sidewalk. Jubilee opened her door and stepped out, looking up at the building as she did. The two-story structure that housed the Bayville High School hadn't changed at all in appearance. It was still tan, with its Romanish architecture and many windows. However, the atmosphere was entirely changed.

The students looked at her and the others with no small amount of hostility. The smell had changed as well, if it had at all. Her nose hadn't been so sensitive the last time she had been here. When a person was feeling a specific emotion, their scent changed. She wasn't familiar with the odor wafting over from the building and the other students, but if she had to guess, it was disgust. There was hatred and fear as well. Mainly hate.

Jubilee waited for the others to disembark from their vehicles before walking forward. "Good luck," Scott said as he drove off. There were murmurs from the small groups of high-schoolers here and there. She could hear them, to her regret.

_"_ _There's the mutie kids, fresh from mutant mansion."_

_"_ _You can't help but wish that they would just disappear one weekend and never come back. You know what I mean?"_

_"_ _At least the mind reader and the eye guy aren't here anymore. Too bad the rest of them still come here."_

_"_ _There's that Asian chick and that Scottish chick that used to come here."_

_"_ _Great. Two more muties to take the place of the grads."_

_"_ _Look. There go the traitors to their freak friends."_

"Hey guys!" Jubilee's attention strayed from the angry whispers to a red-headed, bespectacled kid and a dark-skinned girl that walked towards them. She recognized the boy from Kitty's computer class. She had never gotten his first name, just his surname "Torque," and his nickname "Arcade." He got the nickname from his liking for creating and playing arcade and computer games. He was nice enough, though he had taken the Danger Room for a spin, believing that the X-Men were characters in an incredibly well-made game.

The girl was Amanda Sefton, Kurt's girlfriend. The fact that she had known about Kurt's true appearance before even talking to him never failed to blow Jubilee's mind. If only there were more people like her. The world wouldn't be a half-bad place for mutants then.

"Hey, Arcade," called out Kitty. "How's the project with that enhanced processor coming?"

"It's coming good," Arcade shrugged. "I'm still working out the bugs. Some of the circuits don't seem to work together that well. I just need to figure out which ones."

He noticed Jubilee and Rahne. "Hey, I never got your names when you used to come here." He nervously held out his hand. "I'm Webber Torque, but I prefer Arcade."

"I'm Jubilee, and this is Rahne," Jubilee replied as she shook his hand and let go of it for Rahne. "We came back to the Institute."

"Nice to see you girls again," Amanda greeted them after embracing Kurt and falling into step with them. "I take it things were pretty bad back home?"

"Ay, lass. Things were very rough back at me home," Rahne added. "Imagine being called a werewolf next to the usual insults."

"No wonder you came back. Well, hope your first day back at Bayville doesn't automatically bite you in the rear. Some people," she glared at the surrounding clusters of students, "can't appreciate anyone unless they're exactly like themselves." Several people looked away at this. Most of them just glared back.

Jubilee couldn't help but stare. If Janet had said something like that back in LA, she likely would've been mobbed. She looked around at both her mutant and human friends and suddenly felt a sense of power and hope run through her. She had figured that it would be something like this, but thinking it and seeing it were two entirely different things. _Why didn't I come back here sooner?_

The rest of the morning went smoothly as compared to the routine she had gotten used to over the months. There were the jeers, the sneers, and the cruel jokes. Some of the staff, especially the physics teacher, made it painfully clear that they had no good feelings for mutants. However, the others were there for her. After English, Bobby had rescued her from a water balloon that someone had rigged in her locker. By lunch, Jubilee was feeling pretty good about life in general.

There were a couple of tables that had their names on it, literally. No normal person besides Arcade and Amanda would sit there; the other students had dubbed it the "Freak Feeding Site." Since the X-Men had started sitting there at the beginning of the semester, the others didn't come near the tables except to scribble or carve insults onto the bottom where they couldn't be seen. Principal Hampton had made it clear that he would tolerate no destruction of school property from either side.

The bench groaned as Piotr settled down into it. Even in his disarmored form, he still had a bit of bulk to him. He went to Bayville High for a variety of reasons: There wasn't much for him to do at the Institute all day, he was still a minor (though not for long), and he also wanted to further his education, especially since he was in America. Jubilee smiled as Dorian and Jamie took up seats beside the, to them, towering giant. He was a good guy to have around in a place like this.

The X-Kids had recently created a "buddy system," where everyone had one or two people walk them to their classes. There was safety in numbers, and Colossus was the buddy that almost everyone wanted. Jubilee was perfectly happy with being paired with Bobby in the morning. Kurt and Amara were her buddies in the afternoon.

"Hiya Miss Fourth of July, Lassie! Long time no see." Jubilee jumped and turned around at the sound of the familiar voice. Tabitha Smith, also known as Boom-Boom, was grinning at her and Rahne while balancing an almost overflowing tray.

"Tabitha!" Jubilee got up to give the girl a cautious hug, not wanting to tip her tray over. Jubilee pulled away and gave her old friend a once-over while Rahne greeted her as well. Tabitha looked pretty much the same as she had before, though she seemed just a little quieter than she remembered, not to mention tired.

"Mind if I sit here?" the blond girl inquired.

Rogue snorted. "You sit here every day, Tabs. Why bother asking?"

"Cause it's funny, and I'm not in the Institute anymore," she replied as she sat next to Amara, shouldering Ray out of the way and earning a glare from him. Jubilee doubted that the girl would ever truly change.

"So, what have you been up to?" Jubilee asked. "Still hanging with the Brotherhood?"

"Heck no. I left those knuckleheads when Mystique came back onto the scene," Tabitha replied between bites. "I've got my own apartment and I work as a waitress. It's not easy, but it works out. I just make sure not to blow the apartment or the diner up."

Jubilee nodded. That would explain why Tabitha looked subdued (somewhat) and tired (a lot). It also explained why the girl had her tray filled and her mouth stuffed with food. A waitress's salary likely wasn't much to live on, and a school cafeteria made for a pretty big lunch if you needed it. A thought suddenly came to Jubilee's mind.

"What's up with the Brotherhood these days?"

"Notzing much," answered Kurt. "Zey're still living in zat old boardinghouse, though I have no idea how Zey're paying ze bills. Zey've got a new member, Pyro."

"Pyro," stated Jubilee, quietly. "The crazy guy with the flamethrowers is with the Brotherhood." Kurt nodded. "Oh boy."

"From what I hear, Magneto came back to his old base to find the Aussie watching video clips of his own 'death' at Apocalypse's hands," Ray added. "Needless to say, Buckethead wasn't happy."

"Yeah," Bobby said. "I'm pretty sure that ball of fire we saw flying over Bayville into the ocean a few months ago was him."

"What was he doing at his old base?" asked Jubilee, raising an eyebrow.

"Setting it in order, I think," Kitty mumbled thorough a mouthful of food. She swallowed hurriedly and looked around to make sure that no one was really listening. She lowered her voice. "He wants to use it as a second base/hideout if something like the Sentinel Incident happens again."

"Like I'd want to live there," Alex said testily. "I'd rather crash with the Morlocks than with Magnetbutt."

That brought a chorus of snickers from the tables. Magneto was disliked (and somewhat respected) by most of them and hated with a passion by a select few. He had been an enemy to them for a few years and for the past few months he had been one of their instructors, he was a taskmaster. Wolverine was just as bad, but they trusted him. Magneto would have to earn their trust.

Jubilee didn't laugh very much at the joke. Knowing his story like she did, she wasn't inclined to make fun of him. She didn't think that he was right in most of the decisions he had made, but she hadn't really ever had a chance to build up a real hatred for the man. Thankfully, nobody noticed her lack of mirth at Alex's joke.

Nothing really noteworthy happened except that they met Andrew Matthews, freshman and brother to the incarcerated Duncan Matthews. He was basically Duncan all over again; Jock, bully, arrogant, and an anti-mutant bigot. He spouted off the usual anti-mutant garbage and then ran off when Colossus glared at him. "Sir Jerksalot," as Bobby referred to him, had taken up a safe position twenty yards away before turning around and showing them a really offensive hand gesture, then running off.

Jubilee and Rahne both breathed a sigh of relief as they were driven back to the Institute. "So," Scott started, "how was your first day back at Bayville High?"

"Wasn't stellar, but it wasn't a nightmare either." Jubilee elaborated further, using her fingers to count. "There were the insults, the slurs, the cruel jokes, the hateful teachers, and the mean pranks, just like in LA. However, they didn't get in my face too much because all of you guys were with me."

She paused a moment to think. "Met Tabitha today. I'm a bit surprised she hasn't come back to the Institute yet. Didn't she help against Apocalypse?"

Scott shrugged. "She did and then she went back to her apartment. She probably likes being on her own without taking orders from us." He said this rather stiffly. Jubilee figured that he didn't trust the girl after she had gone out on her own and joined the Brotherhood. Scott would probably never lose his distaste for them. The tension between the X-Men and the Brotherhood wasn't as strong as it was between X-Force and the mutant-gang. Jubilee wasn't sure if this was good or bad; they didn't dislike the Brotherhood as much as the X-Men did, but neither did they have any experience fighting them.

As they pulled into the Institute driveway, Jubilee noticed Mr. McCoy and another figure coming out to meet them. It was a short boy, perhaps a little older than Jamie. He waited patiently for Scott to stop his car and let them out. Up close, he had a slight build, red hair, and an oddly familiar face.

"Are you Jubilee?" he asked. When she nodded in affirmation, he continued. "I'm Brandon O'Neil. Janet told me to tell you hello and thanks for helping us out. I think I'll like it here." Jubilee realized that he strongly resembled Janet.

"Brandon arrived here while you were all at school," Beast explained as the others began to converge. "His family was relieved that Xavier wanted to help." Brandon was apparently lucky in that respect. There were quite a few people out there that disowned their children when they found out they were mutants.

"I'm glad you like it here," Jubilee replied. "You get here ok?"

His face suddenly broke out into a grin. "That jet of yours is so cool," he exclaimed. "And being around other mutants is just…great. I can do this all the time." He raised his hand and a handful of pebbles arose from the ground and began flying around his arm in a pattern.

"Geokinesis, nice," Scott commented as he walked around his car. "I'm Scott Summers, one of the instructors here." He offered his hand and Brandon shook it after dropping the pebbles. "Anything else you can do with that?"

Brandon grinned again and closed his eyes. Scott nearly jumped out of his skin when Brandon's skin turned to stone and he shot up to a little over Scott's height. "How's this?" he asked in a much deeper voice. Scott nodded.

"Hey, Ruskie!" called out Bobby, grinning. "Looks like you finally got someone to arm wrestle with." Piotr rolled his eyes as the others chuckled. Jubilee smiled to herself as the others began to introduce themselves to Brandon. At least one good thing had come of her vampirism; Janet had comforted her and Jubilee in turn had provided a way for her brother to learn about his powers in a friendly environment. Maybe there was hope this whole thing wouldn't destroy her life.

**XMLD-XMLD-XMLD**

A few hours later found Jubilee staring up at the ceiling. They had had dinner followed by that day's assigned homework and then bed at ten. It was a quarter to midnight and she wasn't going to sleep right now or soon. It was like the night was calling to her. The moon was full, but that was a werewolf thing, right?

She couldn't help but wonder if there were werewolves too. That would be so ironic in Rahne's case. Then again, there were no mutants that had the characteristics of a vampire. At least, she didn't know of any. How awful would that be, to have your mutation turn you into something that drank blood and couldn't live under direct sunlight? The things that mutant would have to deal with, especially the extra prejudice. What a nightmare. _That could be my future…._

Jubilee shook her head and got up. She couldn't sleep, she might as well do something with her extra energy. _I wonder just how far I can push my agility and speed._ A rather rebellious thought that could have come from when she, Bobby, and Sam had taken the X-Jet for a midnight flight went through her brain. _No way am I doing that. Then again, I've got vamp powers now._ Jubilee got dressed as quietly as she could. Rahne had been given the room across from hers and she didn't want to wake anyone up with what she was about to do.

She walked out onto the balcony and looked out over the moon-lit lawn. She activated her "vamp vision" as she now called it and studied the lawn with far better acuity than before. She could see each individual blade of grass under a moon as bright as the sun. A bat shot over the trees to grab a moth out of thin air. Bugs crawled through the grass quietly, or loudly, depending on how sensitive your ears were. She also spied the faint movements of the cameras, sensors, and automatic turrets that made up the Institute's first line of defense.

She did some quick stretching exercises and then jumped up on the railing. _Something happens, I can just jump back up onto the balcony._ With that comforting thought, she launched herself into the air with all the strength in her legs. She was twenty, twenty-five feet from the building when she landed. Rolling to her feet quickly, she took off across the lawn.

Her senses picked up the minute movements of the defenses as she ran forward. She began jumping and leaping into the air to avoid the cameras and sensors. Quicksilver could avoid the defenses just by running through them; she wasn't as fast as he was, so she had to rely on her other abilities to get her through this maze.

The vibrations from her footfalls picked up something metallic under the grass ahead of her. She leaped directly over the points that responded differently to her footfalls. Apparently the Professor had installed pressure sensors on the Institute grounds since she left. _Logan, is this what you think about at night? Coming up with new traps for the defenses?_ She was fine with that; she just didn't like it that there were so many new ones in her way.

Hearing a motion sensor rise out of the grass directly behind her, she jumped through the air as hard as she could, flipping to gain more momentum. She sailed over the gate and landed in a handstand. She pushed hard and righted herself. For a moment, she stood panting a little and looking over her shoulder at the Institute. No alarm sounded, no lights flicked on. She heard the sensor move back into the grass. She grinned and then ran forward as fast as she could go.

Within five minutes, she was at the outskirts of Bayville. She channeled her powers through her legs, sailing over a chainlink fence and onto the roof of a two-story building. Ignoring the yells that the use of her power had awakened, she continued running and leaping in a super-powered version of parkour. She ran along ledges and leapt over alleys easily. She jumped onto houses silently and bounded off again.

She finally came to a stop on top of the city hall, one of the taller buildings in the town. The moon shown down on her in all its glory. She grinned, showing a full set of vamparic teeth to the world. She looked out over the town, its citizens wrapped in the pleasant euphoria of sleep. All of them except for her. Her eyes gleamed in the silver light of the moon, reflecting strangely off of the red. She sensed it in her body, her mind, her instincts; she could live in the day, but at heart she was a child of the night.

She stayed like that for a few moments, observing Bayville under the lunar light with her new eyes. The pavement gleamed dully under the moon, while the bay that gave the town its name reminded her of a glistening, fluctuating, silver coin in the distance. Very little stirred under her gaze, even with her on full vampire mode. Which was probably why she was able to spot it.

A small shadow flicked out of an alleyway for a brief instant, followed shortly by the scraping of metal. Jubilee shot down from the dome of the Bayville City Hall to investigate. When she got to the alley, there was nothing there but some turned over garbage cans. Taking a sniff, she picked up the odors of garbage, plastic, and…a person?

She tracked the smell over to a manhole cover in the middle of the alley. _Don't the Morlocks live down there? Last I heard Evan was with them._ She remembered what she had heard about him over the news. Powers going crazy at a skating competition, going vigilante against mutant bigots and getting attacked by Duncan Mathews and Co., fighting against a possessed Storm in China, and with those huge bony plates growing out of his body.

_I wonder if he wouldn't mind a visit from an old friend?_ Jubilee remembered that the Morlocks were incredibly isolationist and secretive, even when they had been taken in during the Sentinel Incident. With their mutations making it impossible for them to walk unnoticed among people, they had started regarding even normal-looking mutants with suspicion and envy. She didn't like their attitude, but she wasn't petty enough to blame them for it.

She probably shouldn't go into the sewers with her enhanced nose, but the idea of seeing Evan and this new tracking thing she could do sealed the deal. She carefully lifted the cover and jumped down the shaft, letting it close behind her.

She touched ground and then stood up. An instant later, she was bending over and gagging hard. The smell had been bad the last time she was here, but she had put up with it. Now the perfume that was created by the combination of dirty dish water, human waste, and others sent down to the sewers was threatening to bring up every bit of food she had in her stomach. She hiked her shirt up over her nose to hide the smell as best as she could. _Great, now I can't even track this guy by scent. Heh, I feel sorry for Logan now._

At least her sight was unaffected by the stench, though it didn't help her with tracking any. The water on the walkway, which she tried not to think about, make it impossible to track footprints since it washed dirt right off. At least her hearing could help her. She concentrated on the sounds going on around her, the flowing water being the most prevalent. For a moment that's all she heard. Then far off, she heard the sound of a splash followed by hurried footsteps. She began walking quickly in the general direction of the echoes.

She walked for a good ten-to-fifteen minutes through the pipes and tunnels. The smell was getting less potent but not by much. Whenever she came across an intersection, she would listen again for the telltale splashes and footsteps. Suddenly, they stopped altogether.

She stopped and let her shirt down all the way. She could barely smell the sewer's stench anymore. That didn't concern her right now; she couldn't get a fix on where the Morlock, as it probably was, had gone. The echoes, though helpful, made it hard to pinpoint a sound after the cause had stopped moving.

The sound of flowing and dripping water was starting to get to her when she heard it. A sound like something slimy was coming right out of the wall. It was behind her. She shot around to see a man seemingly grow from the wall. She gasped and then remembered. He was one of the Morlock's scouts and spies. She could never figure out if his power was camouflage or being to merge with his environment.

"What are you doing here?" he growled, looking at her from his perch on the wall. He obviously hadn't expected her to hear him.

"I'm Jubilee. I'm here to see Evan. Is he around?" He narrowed his eyes at her in distrust. "I just want to talk with him." He studied her for a moment, then vanished back into the concrete that made up the tunnel wall.

"I'll just stay here then."

She waited for a few minutes before hearing someone walking towards her. Whoever it was pretty heavy if the footsteps were anything to go by, and they had a light with them. Looked like a candle from the flickering.

Evan stepped out of a large drainpipe close to where the other mutant had emerged. Jubilee had seen the footage of him but it was still rather shocking. His entire upper-torso was covered in a bony plating with spikes poking out at regular intervals. A spike that was on fire poked out of his forearm, lighting his way. The armor looked pretty heavy, yet he didn't seem to have any difficulties walking around in it.

He looked at her and gave her a small smile. "Hey, Jubes. Your parents let you come back to the Institute?" His voice had deepened considerably since she had last seen him.

"Yeah," she replied. "Things got pretty rough in LA. They let me come back because of the crap I had to deal with at school. Rahne's back too, and we've got a student, Brandon. He can control rocks."

"That's cool." The atmosphere was a bit strained. The last time they had seen each other Jubilee's parents were pulling her out of the Institute, and Evan had looked normal. _Ironic. We've both changed so much. Our powers and our outlooks have turned to something neither of us would've recognized before the Incident._

"What exactly are you doing here, Jubes?" Evan finally asked. "It's past midnight, and I'm sure this is a school night."

"It is," sighed Jubilee. "My powers have changed. Enhanced strength, speed, agility, and senses. It was murder on my nose coming down here. My fireworks pack a lot more of a punch, and I've got a lot of energy going through me right now. I figured a midnight run and a visit to an old friend would get me tired. Nice upgrade yourself." She gestured to the flame coming off his spike.

He gave a wry smile. "Yeah. It's one of the few pluses that came with this." He motioned towards the armor. "Can't really walk unnoticed through a crowd anymore."

Another moment of silence. Jubilee broke it this time. "Why do you stay down here? You know we wouldn't look down on you or anything at the Institute."

Evan's face hardened. "Xavier and the others don't know what it's like for mutants that are on their own. He's got his mansion and his money to help protect himself and you guys. The Morlocks, and other mutants like them, they need someone to protect them. None of them have got the training with their powers that I do. Xavier's dream, it's just not real to me anymore."

_I know how that feels, and I still remember._ Jubilee looked at the ground and then back up at him. "Just…know that we're there for you if you need us. The same goes for the Morlocks."

Evan smirked. "Thanks, but don't let Callisto hear you say that. She's dislikes the idea of charity."

"So I've heard," laughed Jubilee. "I should probably get back to the Institute. You know where the newest exit is?"

"Back the way you came to the T-intersection, fifteen feet to the left. Comes out on an alley behind that bodyshop that Scott used to go to."

"Thanks Evan. It was good seeing you again."

"Same here, Jubes." Evan turned to go. "Take care of yourself."

"Will do," Jubilee called out after him as they parted ways. She found her way to the manhole and breathed in a breath of fresh air. She looked back into the dark depths of the sewers and then replaced the cover. She jumped onto a fire escape and began her run back to the Institute.

She could understand how Evan felt in regards to Xavier's dream. Being the better person only got you so far when almost everyone was dead set against you. She just hoped and prayed that he would turn out to be right.

**XMLD-XMLD-XMLD**

Jubilee hummed to herself as a hundred happy memories flicked through her mind, her fingers searching through the clothes rack in front of her just as quickly. It was the next day and the girls had decided to take a quick trip to the mall. Besides the pop quizzes in history and chemistry and the narrowly-avoided food fight in the cafeteria, the day had been pretty uneventful. Jubilee had managed to get back to the Institute and her room without any incidents, so that was a plus for her.

Kitty and Amara had suggested going to the mall that afternoon to do some shopping and visit the place. One of the things that Jubes had always liked was going to the mall. As far as she was concerned, the mall had been invented for the teenage adolescent female. Besides herself and the rest of the girls (except for Jean), a few of the boy were here too. Kurt was at the ice cream place with Amanda, while Bobby and Ray checked out the video game store. She had come because she wanted to see one of their favorite haunts and to grab a few items.

Her favorite yellow jacket had gotten shredded at that LA warehouse, and she needed a pair of sunglasses. Her plasmoids now blinded her, and besides, she wanted to keep her red eyes a secret for now. Someone might have seen them by now. Thankfully, the glare from her fireworks gave her an excuse to keep her eyes covered after that day's DR session. Also, she wasn't sure if the Morlock that had found her had been studying her out of pure suspicion or not. Having her vamparic abilities being mistaken for mutation was both a blessing and a curse.

"Hey, Jubes, what do you think of this?" Jubilee turned to see Kitty holding a baby-blue blouse to her chest.

"Nice. It really matches your hair." Kitty squealed a little and put it in the shopping cart. Jubilee went back to perusing the jackets. Last time she checked that type of jacket had been pretty popular and most of the stores had had it.

Ah, there it was. She picked it up and gave it a quick look-over. Yep, same designer and same size. She put it in the cart along with the other things she and the girls had picked out. She caught another flash of yellow in her periphery vision. It was another yellow jacket, though it looked more like a trench coat. It was the same shade of yellow and as Jubilee looked at it, she remembered something. The others in X-Force had taken to modifying their suits in small ways, nothing real fancy like the X-Men. The heavier jacket would do nicely against the black of her suit. Add the sunglasses and she would be looking pretty good.

She picked up the heavy jacket and tried it on. It wasn't too warm or cumbersome, and it stopped a few inches short of her ankles. Perfect. She put it in the cart and went over to where Dani was looking at sunglasses.

"Did you find the jacket you were looking for?" Dani inquired. She was studying two different pairs of sunglasses: A set of aviators and a sleek number that looked like the shades in _The Matrix Trilogy._ Jubilee started turning the revolving racks in search for her own pair.

"I found two actually. One for normal, and one for the Danger Room." There were a lot of sunglasses to choose from. What she needed was something that was large enough to completely cover her eyes, and dark enough for her to use her plasmoids with little discomfort as well as hide her vamp eyes. She also wanted it to look good with her suit too.

"I wonder how Logan would take to that," mused Amara, who had just walked up. "I once showed him a design idea I had for his own uniform. He didn't act impressed."

"Did it make him look lak Sabertooth?" Rogue asked as she entered the store. She had been looking though one of the Goth music-and-clothes stores. Kitty followed right behind her with Rahne in tow.

"Oh, that's why," Amara said sheepishly.

Jubilee stopped the revolving rack and picked up a pink pair of shades with large, almost black lenses. She faced away from everyone and put the sunglasses on. They fit perfectly. She picked up the coat and pulled it on. "Tell me girls." She flicked the tag for the sunglasses out of her mouth and turned around. "How would this look with my suit on?"

Forty-five minutes later, Jubilee was studying herself in the mirror. _Gambit must be on to something with that trench coat thing of his._ The girls had practically applauded when they visualized the "trench jacket" and the sunglasses with her uniform. Surveying herself in the mirror, she could see why. The jacket contrasted nicely with the black of the uniform, yet matched the gloves, the boots, the belt, and shoulder guards. She supposed that the pink glasses could fit with the red parts of the shoulder guards, if you could've seen them underneath the jacket.

"Firecracker, McCoy wants to run a few tests…." Jubilee looked up at Logan and Mag…Mr. Eisenhardt, who were standing in her doorway. Logan had trailed off while looking at her new look.

"What's this?" he asked.

"The improvements I made to my suit. What do you think?" she replied.

He raised an eyebrow. "What's with the pink shades?"

"I need them, and these look good on me." She took them off and held them out to him. "Want to borrow them?" she grinned.

Logan snorted and rolled his eyes. "Hank's down in the infirmary when you're ready." He walked off.

"I personally think it makes you stand out on the field," Mr. Eisenhardt stated simply.

"As much as that armor and cape you wear?" Jubilee countered.

"Touché." Magneto turned to go, but stopped to add, "Or as your generation says, 'burn.'" Jubilee had to hold back a chuckle at that.

She turned back to the mirror and studied herself again. She activated her vampire senses and was pleased to see that her eyes would be protected from the light her fireworks generated and from being seen.

Things were so much better at Bayville than they were at LA. People were just as mean but she wasn't standing on her own anymore. Her friends, including Evan and Tabitha, were alright and doing good in their own paths. She was able to keep her bloodlust at bay by taking regular trips to the infirmary before the daily DR session (which was Beast's recommendation after nearly being exposed on Monday). All in all, things were looking up for her. The real question was, could it last?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's how Jubilee's return to Bayville High went, and how she got the famous jacket and glasses. Please leave a review if you liked it or thought I should have done something differently.


	8. Nightmares, Romance, and Rumbles

Chapter 8: Nightmares, Romance, and Rumbles

"Hey guys? Guys? Where is everyone?"

It had been a few weeks since Jubilee had come back to the Institute and things were going well. She had settled back into the routine of Danger Room sessions, school, and ordinary life (considering they were mutants) like she had never even left. She had stayed with the New Mutants, or X-Force, as they now liked to be called. Their new members included Dorian Leitch, Brandon, Danielle, and Alex. Surprisingly, in Bobby's absence Alex had taken up the slack as X-Force's new leader. When on his own time, he was as laid back as a Hawaiian surfer could get, but put him in a uniform and in the Danger Room, he became quite a bit like Scott out on the field. Leadership was apparently in the Summers' gene pool.

School had been going pretty much the same like they had started. There were four types of people when it came to human-mutant relations that Jubilee could perceive. There were the out-spoken mutant supporters, which for now consisted of Amanda and Arcade. There were the quiet supporters, those who kept to themselves and usually tried to diffuse situations quickly before they could escalate. This was the next smallest group, though it was growing thanks to Apocalypse's defeat at the X-Men/New Mutants' hands.

There were the few neutrals, those who were currently sitting on the fence of the mutant issue. They had still to decide their opinions upon mutants and what their relations with "normal" humans should be. They didn't show it through their actions, but you could see it in their body language and their eyes: Fear being fought off by an attempt to understand. At least they were trying to come to a decision rationally.

Unfortunately, the next group was the largest: The silent haters. They voiced their distrust and dislike for mutants through dirty looks, the silent treatment, and all forms of passive-aggressive behavior possible. They made it clear they didn't like mutants, but they didn't go out of their way to make their lives especially difficult.

The same couldn't be said for the last group, the downright bigots. This was basically where the Friends of Humanity and other anti-mutant groups found most of their recruits. This group delighted in making their lives a living perdition. Crude jokes, yelled slurs, obnoxious pranks, rude hand gestures, and their general attitude toward anything with an active X-gene earned them the name "Neanderthals," courtesy of Sam and Alex. It didn't help their image that they were jocks. The stereotypical jock could be a jerk and/or a pig. Add racism and prejudice, and you got a whole new kind of animal, a vicious one.

As for her "condition," which was what Beast referred to it as a joke (a private one), not that much progress had been made. He had been able to identify which segments of DNA had been affected by the vampirism. Which was most of them. Her immune and muscular systems had been the ones most affected. Her skeleton was a bit stronger now, with teeth that could be altered voluntarily or involuntarily. The parts of her brain that dealt with the senses had been enhanced instead of the actual sensory organs themselves. As Mr. McCoy had theorized, any prolonged use of her new powers, especially her enhanced mutant ones, increased the rate at which she used up her blood.

Speaking of her mutant abilities, her vampirism had rewritten her X-gene so that her fireworks were much stronger. The energy that her body could contain had also increased to support the output that she could dish out. The other X-Force members now referred to her as their "Big Gun." These days Bobby was egging her to join the X-Men. Maybe when she was a bit older. Both Magneto and Wolverine upped the difficulty level for the X-Men's training programs.

Right now, Jubilee was walking through the main hallway of the mansion. She had gotten up early for the DR session only to find no one around the Danger Room or the bedrooms. She couldn't find anyone in the rec room, the kitchen, the classrooms, or anywhere for that matter. The whole place was unnaturally quiet. She couldn't pick anything with her ears. Heck, she couldn't even smell anyone.

She had searched the house from basement to attic, and whenever she had looked outside, she couldn't hear or see anyone. There weren't even any birds out. She finally stopped in the entryway and looked around in frustration.

"Alright, you win," she called out. "If this is a prank on me, I'm officially not impressed. Even Jamie's come up with better ones."

"I can assure you this is no joke." Startled, Jubilee shot around to find Magneto along with the Professor and the X-Men directly behind her. They were dressed in their full uniforms, which she had only seen during the DR sessions and their missions. Their eyes and body language had a resolve that she definitely hadn't seen in them before.

"Professor, where is everybody? I can't find any of the others." Jubilee couldn't help but feel uneasy as she faced them. She had the faint idea that she was in some sort of danger. She could tell that their muscles were tensing for a fight, but she didn't know against what.

"I had them all temporarily evacuated from the premises as a precaution," he answered.

"A precaution? Against what?" Jubilee was genuinely puzzled and scared. What was going on, and why had she been left behind?

"Against you." And with that, Magneto raised his hand towards her as a flurry of metal shards exploded out from the couches. The furniture was shredded, and Jubilee would have been too if she hadn't jumped for the chandler as soon as she had seen the projectiles.

"What are you doing?" Jubilee screamed in surprise and fear. She hadn't been expecting that at all.

"Taking a precaution," Scott replied. He raised his hand to his visor and an optic blast shot towards Jubilee. Jubilee twisted her body and it missed. The next one hit the chain that connected the chandler to the ceiling.

Jubilee flipped from the chandelier onto the landing between the two sets of curved stairs as it crashed to the ground. She crouched on the railing and stared down at the others as they regrouped from the chandler's fall. "Why are you attacking me?" she gasped out.

"They told us the truth," Kitty replied flatly. Her eyes were narrowed at Jubilee, assessing her as a threat and an enemy, not as a friend anymore. That look of disgust and hidden hate sent a chill down Jubilee's spine.

"A real vampire is a monster. A mutant vampire is an atrocity," Piotr boomed out. He was somehow managing to crack his knuckles while in his armored form. Jubilee could see why he called himself Colossus now.

"Guys, please," she pleaded. "I'm still me, I'm still Jubilation Lee. I'm not going to hurt anyone."

"Nein," answered Kurt, fixing her with a look of anger. "You are not Jubilee anymore. You are an unholy blight upon zis earth and we won't stop until you are dust." The gleam in his yellow eyes reminded her of the self-righteous hatred she had seen in the faces of the anti-mutant fanatics.

The hesitation from seeing that look was all Kurt needed. He teleported right behind her and grabbed her before teleporting again. The bright light of Nightcrawler's teleportation was instantly replaced with stark darkness. Jubilee shot around and tried to find her bearings. She was alone, for the moment, in a large, empty room (the Danger Room?). For some reason, her vision was about borderline normal. Also, her physical speed and strength seemed weaker than before, and she was now breathing hard from dodging Cyclops' blasts.

What was with everyone all of a sudden? The instructors tell the rest of the X-Men, evacuate the school, and then come after her? She hadn't hurt anyone, she hadn't drank any blood, she wasn't even behind on any of her homework!

Suddenly, a bright red light came on. Bizarrely, she couldn't pinpoint the source, and the only thing it showed was the circle of X-Men around her. Cyclops, Jean, Storm, Wolverine, Professor X, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Rogue, Beast, Colossus, Magneto, and Iceman; they stood bathed in the red glow of the light against the darkness. Jubilee couldn't see any way out of this besides fighting. Unfortunately, she didn't get the chance to throw the first punch.

"I'm sorry, Jubilation," Beast said as he threw a punch that sent her sprawling. "Your condition is completely incurable. The only option left is extermination."

"Firecracker, I may be an animal in a man's body," Logan started, "but at least I don't crave blood!" He swiped at her with his claws, slicing open the leg of her uniform, and her leg.

Jubilee screamed and fell to her knees. She looked up just in time to get kicked in the face by Kitty. "Vampires are only fun in fiction," Shadowcat growled at her. "In the real world, they're just plain monsters."

Jubilee got to her feet only to be receive Rogue's foot in her stomach. "Ah used to think Ah was a vampire," she said. "But tell me bloodsucka, which is worse? To be able to suck out someone's life-force, but not want to, or to crave blood completely?"

"You are an unholy, soulless abomination upon ze world and upon mutantkind," Kurt said as he backhanded her.

"You're a danger to the X-Force, and I won't let anything threaten them or the X-Men." This time Jubilee was hit by Cyclops' optic blast. She sailed right into Colossus' arms, who then began to squeeze her hard.

"I doubt your teeth are dangerous to me now," the hulking metal giant growled in her ear. He then threw her into the air, where Jean's telekinesis grabbed her in mid-air, and then bashed her into the ground.

"You can't be allowed to stay here anymore," Jean cried out. "You've become a monster, Jubilee, and this world has enough monsters in it."

A chain suddenly wound itself around Jubilee and she was hoisted up into the air by Magneto. "There is only one way to deal with a _succo_ , and that is to kill the vermin before it passes on the disease."

Jubilee began to struggle against the chains only to have a burst of lightning make her cry out in pain. "I am truly sorry, child," Storm said with tears in her eyes, "but you are a danger to everyone here, and I cannot take the risk of letting you live."

The Professor looked up at her quietly. Jubilee raised her head, desperately looking for some pity in his gaze. Pity yes, but determination as well. "Jubilation, please understand. If people learn that you're not only a mutant, but a vampire as well, what do you think they'll do? There have been improvements since Apocalypse's defeat, but your continued existence puts that and everything else we've worked so hard for in jeopardy. I wish it hadn't come to this, but there's no other way."

At the sound of footsteps, Jubilee looked up only for her heart to plummet from her chest. Bobby, in his ice form, was walking up to her, his face unreadable due to its current condition. He walked with a purpose that she saw in small glimpses in the DR sessions. Aching all over from her injuries and unable to move thanks to Magneto, she could only whisper, "Bobby, please."

He looked up at her, and it felt like her heart would shatter in its positon at her feet. He looked at her with loathing, disgust, and distrust. He raised his hand and a blue glow surrounded it. "Do you think for one moment that I could ever love a thing like what you've become? Never." The ice in his hand shot towards her and she screamed.

**XMLD-XMLD-XMLD**

Jubilee shot up in bed, gasping for breath, her pajamas soaked in sweat. She mentally checked herself for the injuries she had just sustained, breathing hard in relief when she confirmed that that had been just the most vivid nightmare she had ever experienced, and not a real occurrence.

She glanced at her clock and then collapsed, groaning. It was five minutes to six. There was no point in going back to sleep. What a way to start to the day; a horrendous nightmare followed by a wake-up five minutes before the alarm in sweat-soaked pajamas. At the very least, it was a Friday. The weekend would be only a day away.

The DR session went well. X-Force was improving slowly. She and Alex were good at their roles of big gun and leader, respectively. Wolverine grunted and Magneto nodded, their signs of approval. It was rather sad how they were all happy to see those signs.

School was the usual. That idiot Andrew and his groupies didn't do anything beyond their usual horse manure. The only thing that was off was Bobby. He wasn't his usual talkative self, and he had barely made eye contact with her the whole day. She didn't know if he was planning on playing a prank on her or finally asking her on a date.

Over the few weeks she had been there, they had gotten closer and closer as they had lived, studied, and trained together. He was a goofball that never seemed to take anything seriously, but he also had qualities as a leader, which was a very good combination in Jubilee's opinion (and also the reason why he should have stayed on X-Force). He knew when it was time to be serious, though he sometimes needed a nudge (or a shove in some cases). Personally, she thought he was adorable, though she doubted his male ego would allow for him to enjoy that thought.

It was pretty obvious that he found her attractive in that bumbling way of his, but she didn't know whether or not he would finally grow some guts and ask her out. Maybe she should ask Kitty to drop him some hints. Then again, maybe she shouldn't. He was terrible at those.

It was just before the last class of the day. Jubilee was at her locker retrieving her homework when Bobby came up behind her. "Hey, Jubes."

She had heard him coming up behind her but she pretended to be surprised. "Oh, hey Bobby." She just looked at him expectantly.

He just stood there looking at her awkwardly. This continued for a few seconds before Jubilee started to root around in her locker again. She really needed to get that homework turned in, and he wasn't really helping. "Wouldyouliketogoonadatewithme?" he suddenly said.

Jubilee looked up at him. Unfortunately her enhanced hearing only made it easier to hear, not to understand what people said hurriedly. "What was that, Bobby?"

He flushed and slowly repeated himself. "Would you like to go on a date with me?" For the first time since they had known each other, Jubilee had never really seen Bobby nervous about something. Worried sometimes, yes, but never actually nervous about anything really. Behind his anxious face and rapidly beating heart, Jubilee could see a spark of hope in his eyes. This was it; they had been friends since their first meeting nearly a year ago, and now here was the point that could ruin everything between them, or make it even better. She made her decision then.

"I'd love to, Bobby."

The look on his face was a combination of surprise, joy, and apprehension. "Great. Um, would after dinner and homework work for you? I hear there are some good movies playing at the Cineplex tonight."

"That would work great." Jubilee glanced at her watch and dived back into her locker. "We'd better get to class. Oh, and Bobby? Let's not watch anything with vampires."

These days she was trying to stay away from vampire films and books. Watching and reading about them reminded her that she was one of them and fictional or not, she definitely didn't want to be anything like that. At the very least, she didn't sparkle. She couldn't help but wonder if Stephanie Meyer was a vampire who wrote pro-vampire books.

"Fine with me," Bobby shrugged. "That whole thing with vampires is overrated. I mean, why idolize something that sucks blood? That's just wrong. See you, Jubes." He didn't see the hurt look on her face as he walked off grinning.

Jubilee thought back to that horrific dream she had awoken from. How would the others react if they learned the truth? Magneto had made it quite clear what he would do if he saw her as a threat. Would the Professor agree with him? Would everyone agree with him?

Another thought occurred to Jubilee as she came up on the classroom. _'What if I split the Institute right down the middle?'_ She imagined the X-Men and X-Force divided amongst their members, facing off against each other as she could only look on in horror.

She shook her head as she took her seat next to Amara, who had arrived ahead of her. The pyro/geokinetic gave her a look before turning her attention back to her notebooks. Great. She was probably going to hear it from Scott later. He got real grouchy whenever someone didn't work with the buddy system. Considering that Bobby was going to ask him for a lift to and from the theater, that wasn't particularly good.

Jubilee thought about what she had just agreed to as she got her homework out of her bag and set it out on her desk for collection. She and Bobby definitely had chemistry, but was it right for something like this? She had heard horror stories of friendships that turned romantic that then turned out badly. Then again, some people were able to remain friends after break-ups, while some romances based off of initial friendship had beautiful results. She just hoped her vamp side didn't get in the way.

After school, Scott gave her an earful on the way back to the Institute. The lecture lasted almost the entire trip back. The main gist of it was that she shouldn't leave the others hanging or they might run into Matthew's or one of his friends. Jubilee thought her ears were going to start bleeding by the time they pulled up to the gates.

Thankfully, Scott agreed to drive Bobby and Jubilee to the theater after dinner "and after you've finished your homework." Needless to say, after dinner the two of them had rushed to their rooms to finish off a large chunk of their homework. It was probably more than they needed to right then considering that it was the weekend. Then again, that meant more time to spend together later on.

"Now," Scott said as he pulled up to the theater, "No R-rated movies and no getting into fights. Give me a text and I'll be here faster than Pietro."

"Don't worry so much, Scott," Bobby said as he got out of the passenger seat and walked over to Jubilee's door to open it. She thanked him as she got out. He could be a real gentleman when he wanted to be. "We won't do anything stupid."

"Good. Oh, and Bobby." They turned back to hear Scott's parting words. "Do anything that she doesn't like, and you'll have to deal with Logan after me."

Bobby shivered, which was rare considering he had ice-based powers. "No problem, Scott." Behind his back, Jubilee raised an eyebrow in Scott's direction and flipped her eye color to red. If Bobby tried anything, which he wasn't going to, neither Scott nor Logan would need to discipline him; _she_ could do that for them. She turned her eyes back as Bobby turned to her.

"So, what were you thinking? Horror, action, comedy?" She could see that he was desperately hoping that she wouldn't go for a chick-flick.

She smiled. "No horror and don't worry. I only do chick-flicks with the girls."

"I wasn't worried," Bobby replied, trying his best to look offended. Jubilee heard him sigh in relief as she looked at the movie posters. She had to keep himself from giggling. A good liar Bobby Drake would never be.

They picked out an action film that was supposed to be good. Bobby bought the popcorn while she purchased the drinks. They settled in for the movie. Jubilee had to admit it had been a good choice. The plot was a good one with a few original twists. The action caught your attention really well and the humor had the audience in guffaws. By the time the hero was kissing his girlfriend who had nearly died, Jubilee realized that Bobby's arm was around her shoulders. She decided that she liked it there.

"Do I know how to pick them or what?" Bobby crowed as they left the theater. He had just phoned Scott and he was on his way to pick them up.

"You pick them? We both picked that one," Jubilee laughed. That was another thing that she appreciated about Bobby: He had a sense of self-exalting humor without coming off as an arrogant idiot. Some boys sounded like they thought they were king of the world or something whenever they opened their mouth.

"Well, what have we got here? Two X-Brats out by themselves."

Speak of the devil. Or in this case, a speed demon. Pietro Maximoff, aka Quicksilver, was standing right in front of them. Just behind him was the rest of the Brotherhood: Lance Alvers aka Avalanche, Fred Dukes aka Blob, Todd Tolansky aka Toad, Pietro's sister Wanda aka Scarlett Witch, and their new member Pyro. Scott's advice to stay out of fights was suddenly justified.

"Hey yo, it's the Chinese chick," Toad piped up. "What's your name again? June?"

"Jubilee," she answered back stiffly.

"Whatever," Pietro sniped. "The Snow Man actually got you out on a date? And I thought glaciers were slow."

"It's Ice Man to you, Quickboy," Bobby retorted. "And I do things at my speed. You can't really enjoy life at yours, now can you?"

"Not another X-Men/Brotherhood testosterone contest," moaned Wanda. "You two want to show off who has the bigger biceps, do it out in the alley."

"Two shows in one night, huh?" Blob grinned. "Just let me get some nachos." Jubilee couldn't but feel sorry for the guy behind the snack counter. She'd heard that Fred Dukes had once single-handedly put a Golden Corral out of business, which wasn't hard to believe.

"I think the sheila would rather watch the movie, mates," Pyro broke in. He attempted to put an arm around Wanda, which resulted in his hand getting slapped. "You gumbies go knock yourselves out." Jubilee felt a bit relieved that the walking bad luck charm and the human lighter had better things to do.

"Been a while since I saw a good fight," muttered Lance, who pulled some money out of his pocket. "Toad, ten bucks says Quickie makes a pass at the X-Chick after wedgieing Drake." Jubilee bristled at that.

Before she could give Lance a piece of her mind, a hand suddenly latched onto her wrist and the world became a blur. The next thing Jubilee knew, she and Bobby were in the alley behind the theater. "Let's dance, Ice Cube," Pietro called out.

He began to run around them, daring Bobby to hit him with an ice blast. Jubilee could see the frost coating Bobby's hand as he waited for an opportunity to ice the speedster. Unfortunately, the speedster was too quick, and if Bobby iced someone else's property, it wouldn't look good for the X-Men.

Jubilee smiled suddenly and stretched out with her hearing. She was nowhere near as fast as Pietro, but she could hear him, hear the patterns he was running around in, and she began to get an idea of where he was going to be next.

She suddenly noticed he was deviating from his usual route, and headed right behind her. Acting on instinct, Jubilee reached out and grabbed Pietro's hand only a few inches away from her rear. She glared into his surprised face. "Wrong move, speed-brain." She twisted his arm back, forcing him to move with his arm, leaving his abdomen within range of her fist.

Fred, Toad, and Lance walked into the alley just in time to see Jubilee slam her fist into Pietro's middle, sending him flying into a dumpster while letting out a very emasculating scream. Fred's mouth dropped open, letting a half-chewed ball of chips and cheese fall out.

Pietro scrambled out of the dumpster, gagging on the smell. "Ok, now things are going to get really messy, starting with you." He glared at Jubilee and prepared to run right at her. Jubilee had a plasmoid at the ready when a white, freezing projectile shot right by her. It impacted on the ground underneath Pietro. No sooner did his feet start moving than they shot right out from under him, leading to an embarrassing landing on his backside. Bobby shot four more projectiles at his hands and feet, effectively shackling Pietro to the ground.

"What the…I can't move! Somebody get me out of this," he yelled, desperately trying to move his limbs. He looked towards the others. "Would you guys please help me out here?"

Fred, Lance, and Toad all looked at each other and then shrugged. Lance took a cell phone out of his pocket, snapped a picture of Pietro on the ground ("Hey!"), and gave it to Toad. "Go ahead and show that to Wanda after the movie, she'll love it."

"Would you knuckleheads please help me already?"

"Did he make a pass at you?" Lance asked Jubilee.

"Yes, that's why I put him in a dumpster," she sniffed.

"Did he wedgie you before doing that?" Lance turned to Bobby. When Bobby shook his head in relief, Lance grudgingly passed ten dollars to Toad. "You couldn't do that for me?" he addressed Pietro.

"I was getting to it. Now. Get. Me. Out!"

"Pyro can do it," Lance shrugged and headed back to the theater entrance, Fred and Toad in tow. Pietro continued to yell after them, Bobby, and Jubilee as they exited the alley. Jubilee was impressed at the capacity of his lungs.

Scott chose that moment to drive up in his convertible. He stared at the Brotherhood members as they went walked back to the theater. "What were you guys up to?" He was giving them all the hairy eyeball, or at least Jubilee thought he was.

"Pietro," Lance said as he continued walking. Scott looked towards Jubilee and Bobby for an explanation.

"Pietro got mouthy and then he dragged us into the alley," Bobby quickly said.

"And we totally kicked his butt," Jubilee grinned.

Scott craned his head towards the alley and listened to Pietro running his mouth at them for a moment. "You iced his hands and feet to the ground?"

"Yep."

Scott let out a snort of laughter. "Alright, I'll let this one pass. He could afford to be taken down a few pegs."

**XMLD-XMLD-XMLD**

Jubilee smiled to herself as she checked her email. That night had been one of the best ones she had ever had. When Bobby had asked her if she wanted to go on a second, she had readily said yes.

Maybe this whole thing could work. As long as she managed to keep this vampirism thing in check as she had been, maybe no one would ever find out about it if Mr. McCoy was able to find a cure. That was the best-case scenario of course, but it could still happen. Right?

Logan chose that moment to knock on the door and ask if she was decent. When Jubilee answered to the positive, he strode in. "Hear you went on a date with the ice cube. Is it true the two of you froze Motormouth to the ground?"

"Yes, and that's a really good nickname for him," Jubilee smiled. "Is Mr. Eisenhardt mad about that?"

"Naw, Buckethead's not too concerned. Now if you had put him in a hospital, then you'd have problems."

"I'll tell you who's going to have problems," Jubilee smirked. "Pyro's putting the moves on Wanda. I don't think she cares for it though."

"That guy is pure crazy," Logan muttered. "By the way, I already gave Bobby a talk about the two of you. Not the talk, his parents already did that."

"Mine have too," Jubilee said quickly, blushing. She didn't need to hear that one again.

"Good." Logan looked relieved. "Now, I just have a couple more things to say. First, if he tries anything with you that you don't like or want, or if he breaks your heart, please leave me something to deal with."

"I'll remember that."

Logan sighed now. "I know that you're not going to want to hear this, but you need to. If this gets serious between you and Drake, you'll eventually have to tell about you-know-what. And ask yourself, do you think he'll still care about you when he learns the truth?"

Jubilee was silent for a moment. "I…I hope he will. Logan, I had a dream last night. You all decided that I was too dangerous to keep around and turned on me."

"Stop right there kid," Logan interrupted. "We are not going to do that. You're one of us, and nothing's ever going to change. The others know that, and if Eisenhardt ever tries something, he'll have to go through the rest of us to get to you. Just," he gave her a half-smile. "Don't go Dracula on us now, alright?"

Jubilee had to give him a smile. "Sure thing." As he turned to go, she added "Logan, thanks."

"No problem, firecracker. Don't forget, we got a DR session tomorrow."

Jubilee groaned as she heard Logan laugh in the hall. At least the DR sessions on the weekend weren't as early as they were during the week days. That would just be cruel if they were just as early. They were hard enough as it was.

Jubilee powered her laptop down as she finished with her email. Other than Pietro's rude entrance and subsequent humiliation, the night had been a great one. Jubilee smiled to herself as she got ready for bed. Maybe this whole thing with her vampirism would work out in the end. The date had worked out, hadn't it? There was nothing to say that none of this wouldn't work out just as great or even better. That thought alone gave Jubilee hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the romance hinted between Jubilee and Bobby in the series begins. Those two do make a cute couple. And yes, both Pyro and Toad are now vying for Wanda's affections. Characters like her are just too fun to torment, even if her reaction is predictable (and destructive). A guy like Pyro would definitely go for her. Magneto is not going to be happy when he finds out.
> 
> I'll update this as much as I possibly can with my summer job search going on and my other projects bouncing around in my head. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter for "X-Men: Light within Darkness". Feel free to leave a review or PM me with your thoughts.


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